I’m reading a lot of Cuban history in Moon’s Handbook on Cuba, and I came across the following story (pg 27) that can teach us a lot about missions and Christianity.
The Spaniards’ reputation for conquering had preceded them to Cuba. So, when they arrived in Cuba to conquer the indigenous people there, they were met with fierce resistance. One of the leaders of the resistence was a chieftan named Hatuey. Eventually, however, the Spaniards captured Hatuey and burned him at the stake on February 2, 1512. While the flames were being lit, the Spanish priest Juan de Tesin offered to baptize him, promising heaven to him if he permitted the baptism. Hatuey asked the Spanish priest if there would be Spaniards in heaven, too. Wehen the priest replied, “Yes,” Hatuey told him that he did not want to go to heaven where “such cruel and wicked people as Christians” would be.
To me, this story repeats itself in modern culture. Many people would not want to be where there are such “cruel and wicked people as Christians.” We have a no better reputation than the conquering Spaniards. We do many things to make people hate Christianity, and then we wonder why they would not want to be where we are. It doesn’t do us much good to only preach about the love of God or of His way of life. We must live it out in our daily interaction with others.
Last night, as I watched Nathan try to balance himself while taking some baby steps, I realized something about God. I’ve learned a lot of things from Nathan about God, and this is just one of them. But, if you watch the video, you’ll notice how much we wanted him to succeed. We’re cheering him on, encouraging him the whole way.
God is like that. He wants us to succeed in all that we do. He is our biggest fan. He’s the Father with the outstretched arms, ready to cheer for us when we finally get it right. He’s the one instructing us and telling us we can do it. He loves us so much that He wants us to succeed. He’s not out to get us. If we fall, He picks us up and helps us try again. He’s there at the end, waiting for us to stumble into His arms and waiting to hug us when we get there.
I was reminded today that I am not perfect (Not by Janell). I have faults. I have things that are in my personal blindspot. It’s a good thing I was taught this song when I was a kid:
He’s still working on me
To make me what I ought to be
It took Him just a week to make
The moon and the stars
The Sun and Earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be
He’s still working on me
I pray that people have patience with me as I am still a work in progress. I don’t have all the answers, nor am I fully what I ought to be yet. God is in the process of shaping, molding, and transforming me. So, please pray for patience for those around me and for understanding for me to know what I need to change.
Fellowship: I didn’t take the time to look up the Greek word, but I’m pretty sure there are some good clues to the meaning of the word if we take a look at the Spanish word for fellowship: “Convivir.” Literally, this means “to live with.” It seems to me to be a special time of spending time together, hanging out, sharing your life with someone else.
We hosted a fellowship for missionaries last night at our house. It was a good time of fun for most, but something made me think that most of the time, we don’t want to spend time with each other. We’d rather be at home watching TV, reading a book, watching videos on the Internet, or reading blogs. It’s funny how we say we are going to fellowship when really, we don’t care about spending time with others.
I had a great time, and I enjoyed getting to know some of the other missionaries better. I just hope they did, too. As an added bonus, we cleaned up our house really well in order to have the fellowship.
If He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, why is there no money where it needs to be? I just finished talking to a student at the seminary that I advise for Christian service, and he tells me that he isn’t sure if he will be able to return next January because of the financial situation. The church where he works supports him a little. His church at home supports him with half. His family can’t support him because they aren’t committed Christians.
What’s going on? I hate to see people who really want to serve God have to leave their studies because of a lack of finances. And this student isn’t the only one. They go without food sometimes. They spend their last pesos on transportation to the church where they are serving. Why is it that the ministry is so underfunded? I don’t even know if that is a word. The cause of Christ really suffers because we are selfish and bad administrators of the money He has given us. Oh, I wish I could help. I can only pray.
Schedule for today:
- 8-12: class
- 12-2: Meeting
- 3-5: Doctor for Nathan’s normal check-up
- 7-9: MK Bible study
It’s going to be a busy day. Plus, I have some “office work” to do. I don’t know when I’ll get that done, but hopefully I can squeeze in some time somewhere.
This reminds me of something I’ve been thinking about lately. Why do we think that being busy is a good thing? Everytime we talk to someone, we say, “I’ve been really busy lately.” We say it like they should be awed at our busy-ness. Sometimes, too, we’re ashamed to say, “I don’t have anything on the schedule today.” As if busy-ness was close to godliness. I’ll have to think about it more and write about it later. Just a thought…”Be still and know that I am God.”
