A hot day; an uncomfortable ride in an old jeepney up and down the mountains of Mindanao visiting little mountain churches; that was our itinerary one afternoon. I was miserable, and I guessed I showed it.
That same evening at dinner back in Cagayan de Oro and finally sipping the icy-cold mango shake I had been longing for all day, one of the brethren at the table decided to be super-straightforward with me.
You know, he started to say with a most disappointed look on his face, today your behavior was terrible. You must have stumbled the people at the mountain.
I was struck dumb. Stumbled people?? Reeeeally?
The other person continued without mincing his words, You looked unhappy, didn’t smile at them or shake hands, and when they invited you into the house, you ignored them and stood outside.
And he told me straight what he thought of that!!
Er… I cast my mind back to that afternoon. Y-yes, but it was already so hot, and their house looked like a four feet by six feet oven which I didn’t want to be baked in, and… and we got there after sitting cramped in a jeepney for hours, and I wanted to stretch my legs by staying outside, and…and…
I tried to justify my actions, but he said, You stumbled them. They probably think you’re too proud, ignoring them and refusing to go in. You may never go back there again, so couldn’t you at least shake hands and be friendly for just the few minutes we were there?
Could I? Yes, well, I could, but wouldn’t that be hypocritical, if I was already half-dead and fed-up and didn’t understand the point of that visit at all, but yet I had to smile and look happy?
No need to pretend. God’s grace is sufficient, was the short answer.
I thought hard about that lesson. Yes, surely God’s grace is sufficient, except that, way back in the year 2001, I hadn’t quite learnt to apply that truth yet. I didn’t know about the exchanged life. I was full of self, and the flesh ruled.
I never saw those people again. I never had another opportunity since that fateful day to go back to that area in northern Mindanao. But I sure hoped that I learnt a hard but needful lesson that day, and at every other ‘hard’ place I go to on subsequent mission trips, even after arriving exhausted and feeling like dying, Lord, help me to be a blessing.
I remember the first time I saw the little purple flowers on the mountains in Tibet. They were soooo simply beautiful. And I thought, what a pity that no one but me may ever see these. And then I thought, maybe God makes beautiful things, not to make us happy, but for His own pleasure and because He just enjoys making and having beautiful creations.
This was about 4… Read More....
Dear Family and Friends,
As always, time goes by so quick. The spring semester flew by and now I am in the process of moving to a new city. After the whirlwind of activities over the last few months, I finally have a few minutes to catch my breath before summer camp starts so I thought I’d take a moment to update you on how He is working… Read More....
School has begun! I started teaching on Monday of this week. I am teaching in the English department of my school and am very excited to be working with my students. I have loved all my students from year one to now but because these kids are English majors their English is a little better so we can discuss more in-depth topics and get to know each other a little… Read More....
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