A Lesson in Hope from my Refugee Guest

As we sat down for our meal, Ali asked if he could take a picture. "I want to remember this time together," he explained.

Let me back up. We had invited our friend, Hamid, a refugee from Afghanistan to come over for dinner. Hamid lived with us in Vienna for a couple weeks last summer. He was going through a challenging time and needed the extra support of a safe home to live for awhile. Little did we know what joy he would bring into our lives. We loved our evening prayer times and felt honored to learn about his story and journey to Austria. 

The day of our dinner, Hamid asked if he could bring a friend. Of course, I always cook too much food anyway. I just want to be like my niece's Italian mother, whose motto is "FEED ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE FOOD ALL OF THE TIME." There was plenty to share.

Hamid guided Ali to the family room. Ali is blind and works as an interpreter. Both men grew up in Muslim families, but are now both following Jesus because of the kindness of Christians they encountered upon arrival in Europe. I don't know the details of Ali's blindness, but when he explained why he wanted a picture, I was amazed.

"I hope to see someday, so I am taking pictures of all the places I visit so I will be able to see them then."

Ali was taking action on future belief. His hope compelled him to do something now.

I have not been able to shake this question all week: What can I do today that prepares me for the future I long to have?

What are your hopes for the future? What are you doing now to take a step in that direction?

*Hamid gave me permission to share this story.

Happy John Wesley Day!

Today we celebrate the 277th anniversary of John Wesley’s conversion. It is a special day because this year's anniversary falls on Pentecost Sunday. Over the last couple of years visiting the Wesleyan Holiness churches in the British Isles and my sister during their stint at Oxford, we have had the great privilege to visit important Wesley sites in Oxford and London. Let me share some highlights with you as we reflect on Wesley's life. 

John Wesley attended Oxford, soon followed by his younger brother, Charles. They formed a small group focused on practices, or methods (get it, "methodists"), to put off patterns of the world and put on Christian behaviors such as studying the Bible for hours every day, prayer, and visiting prisons. They boldly called this group the Holy Club. John and Charles followed their father's path into ministry, both being ordained in the Anglican Church while at Oxford. The brothers went to Georgia as missionaries and tried imposing their Holy Club methods on the congregation, but it didn't go so well. They returned to England discouraged.

With Andy and Juli Elliot at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford

Students of Christ Church
Leaders of the Methodist Revival
Ordained in this Cathedral

Isn't it ironic that this brilliant teacher, ordained minister, zealous missionary still had not yet experienced God's grace? Finally on May 24, 1738, John Wesley had an experience that changed everything. He described the event in his journal, “I felt my heart strangely warmed.” He recognized that his effort without God’s grace was not enough. Back in 1738 Charles's conversion actually occurred on Pentecost Sunday, while his brother's was three days later. These brothers shared so much together in their lives, and I love how the younger brother was a great influence on the older.

28 Aldersgate, London. Probable site of John Wesley's conversion.

John Wesley's Conversion Memorial with the text of his diary:
"About a Quarter before Nine I felt my heart strangely warm'd"

Here is a man who tried to Put off and Put on without Being Made New. These three imperatives are found together in scripture. Last week I had the opportunity to preach on Ephesians 4:20-24, which turned out to be so timely with Wesley's life experience rolling around in my head.

That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Many people view Christianity as just the first and last of these imperatives: Put off , "don’t do these things" and Put on, "do these things". I would say the most critical of the three is the middle one: Being made new. Without the power of Christ making us new, we will be frustrated by the inability to keep doing, or not doing, “the list.”

Being made new is the beauty of the Christian life. It’s about progress and movement, not about a list of dos and don'ts. While this verb is a command, it is reflexive, meaning that it’s something that is being done to us. This is about our posture of welcoming the Holy Spirit’s work in our life to transform us. Keep the imagery of school in mind here mentioned in verses 20 and 21. We need to continue placing ourselves in an environment to grow and change. We are not stagnant or finished. This is God’s work in our hearts and lives and we welcome ongoing growth. 

John Wesley's 5 decades of ministry following his conversion were given to share the experience of true inner transformation, of being made new, with others. By the end of his life he had preached 40,000 sermons (how this frequently shared stat is even mathematically possible baffles me) and travelled 250,000 miles by horseback. Some say his influence on reforming British society prevented the revolution experienced in France.

Just a few weeks ago, we visited Wesley's Chapel in London on a Sunday morning. They announced their plans to celebrate this day with special services at various historical Wesley sites in London. I am with them in spirit today, thankful for the heritage of a changed heart made new.

May 2015

How big or small is your world?

"Dillon and Kayli are going to university in the states. Dillon is near Detroit and Kayli is in Chicago." I recently was telling some new friends here about my children. They knew Emma was with us here in Vienna, but didn't realize she had two older siblings.

At the same time I said, "so they're not very far apart," they both said, "they're so far apart!"

Ah, Europe.

We all laughed. One said that her husband once had a meeting 7 hours away by car. They decided to book a hotel to break up the journey.

I told them about our 18 hour straight road trip to Breckenridge for spring break with our kids ages 7, 11 and 13. Dave's dad's famous phrase was repeated at every gas station:

"When my tank is full, yours had better be empty!"

We have lived for a year and a half without a car.  Here in Vienna there is no need to have one.  Well, of course it will be great for grocery shopping, but my bike has done the trick with my fantastic panniers.  Groceries are heavy.

I should name my bike.
I'll be taking suggestions in the comment section.

It's just a bummer when you're caught in the rain.

But this summer we have the use of one of our teammates' cars.  Next week we are road tripping to speak at a church retreat in Poland.  I'm so excited.  When Dave and I were first married we read the Chronicles of Narnia out loud to each other on road trips.  I think we will have to do that again.

We are planning to purchase a car here in the fall.  It will be helpful to visit some of our teams and there is a certain freedom with having a car.  Owning a car...I imagine it would be like having a pool in Michigan.  I am sure will gain a lot of friends.  But I haven't hated not having one.  The public transportation in Vienna is one of our favorite features of living here (and the museums).  That will still be a daily part of our lives.  But having a car will also enable us to explore places along the way on our travels.  Our world will definitely get bigger!

Kicking off Holy Week

One of Vienna's monikers is "The City of Music". The city tourism office touts that more composers have lived in Vienna than any other city in the world. So unlike Los Angeles' Walk of Fame honors movie celebrities, Vienna's stars include composers such as Mozart and Salieri (of Amadeus fame), Haydn, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Strauss. Many of these composers knew each other, were students and teachers of each other, and were friends. Just the other day I caught this pic at the State Opera House.

Gustav Mahler
composer and one-time director of the Vienna State Opera

The rich music scene in Vienna continues to this day and frankly overwhelms me. I recently read that around 10,000 people listen to live classical music in Vienna every night! 

I finally took the plunge and picked one:  Bach's St. Johns Passion at the Wiener Konzerthaus by the Vienna Symphony.

And I'm so glad I did. It was the perfect kick-off to Holy Week.

We invited our friends, Casey and Kendra, to join us.

yes, that's the back of the auditorium...

Even the ceiling of the Wiener Konzerthaus is spectacular!

How to survive a concert while you have a cold

I had asked my sister, Juli, which rendition of the St. Johns is the best to purchase. I wanted to get familiar with the music before we heard the live version.  She recommended the Bach Collegium Japan conducted by Suzuki. Fantastic. I highly recommend anyone going to a concert to get familiar with the music first. Thankfully I had also searched out the German/English side-by-side translation of the text and Dave downloaded it to his iPad. I still purchased a program to have the German text in front of me. It was fun to pick out some of the words and phrases, but I frequently leaned over to check out the translation to gain the deeper meaning.  

I loved our Evangelist. It's a critical part, he's like a narrator but also has some lovely solos. Clear voice, beautiful.

My favorite lines:

My precious Savior, let me ask,
Now that you have been nailed to the Cross
and have said yourself:  It is finished,
Am I made free from death?
Can I through your pain and death inherit the kingdom of heaven?
Has the redemption of the whole world arrived?
You cannot say a single thing out of pain:
yet you bow Your head and say silently yes.

I found it interesting that the St. John ends after Christ's death. I wanted the resurrection scene! And yet without going there so quickly, I find myself thinking more on Christ's suffering this week. I'm more aware of His pain, my pain, our world's longing for all to be made right and made new.

Banana and Lime Prayers

Have you ever said you'd pray for someone and then forgotten to do it? Repeatedly I am amazed at our support team's faithfulness in prayer.  

(shout out to my prayer ladies!!)

When we first became missionaries with Global Partners, Dave and I each asked a group of friends to pray more intently for us. These groups receive more frequent communication from us with more detail about how to be praying for us.  

When I asked my friend, Becky Gray, to pray, she sent this reply:

Yes, Dina, I would love to specifically pray for you.  I have been doing that lately under an odd reminder.  I learned from you how to peel a banana from the bottom and each time I have a banana I pray for you.  God can use any reminder, can't he??

Hilarious! When Dillon was a baby, I had learned to peel bananas by pinching the bottom end instead of pulling the top stem to the side, which many times bruises the banana. I must have shared that tip with Becky, and now that has become her physical reminder to pray.

In January I had the privilege of meeting Russ Gunsalus, the Executive Director of Education and Clergy Development for the Wesleyan Church. We were discussing my developing role with Global Partners in Europe. The guy is a visionary, and before long had me dreaming about what kind of leadership role I could play. We had just heard an inspiring story about a group called "Lemon Aid" so he joked that I could call my new project "Lime Aid". Before we parted, he promised to pray for us every time he saw a lime.  I'm not sure I quite believed him, he's a busy guy. But here are just a few of the picture texts we have received from him in the past 6 weeks with a reminder that he's praying for us.

In a way, using such tangible methods to remember to pray is much like those throughout the ages who prayed the hours. I am blessed by these friends who keep us in their prayers.

Dave and I have committed to praying together every day at the same time during lent. Would you like to join us?

Advent 2013 Week 4: JOY

Much like New York, joy is a state of mind. Dave's mom is the quintessential illustration of joy. Her personal slogan, which I've heard many times through the years, proves my point.

I will let nothing rob me of my joy today.

She would recite this when anything was amiss:  lost car keys, delayed flights, plans run amok. And now I see her living it out as her husband's mind is tragically being twisted by dementia. She is a living demonstration of that crazy call of James

when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 

Like I said, crazy, right? How can one find great joy in the midst of troubles? Dee practiced it for decades: through choosing joy as a response to all circumstance. To slow down, enjoy people, and find God's presence in every situation.

Last night we sang Christmas carols with some new friends here in Vienna. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen was especially poignant to me.

God rest you merry, Gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ our Savior
Was born upon this day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
    O tidings of comfort and joy,
    Comfort and joy
    O tidings of comfort and joy.

To understand the carol, one must have a little old English refresher. The word rest means "keep" or "make" with you being the recipient of the keeping or making. Those pesky commas play a critical role as well, much like "Let's eat grandma" makes much more sense as "Let's eat, grandma." This isn't referring to "merry gentlemen" at all, it's a blessing and wish that God would make us merry, filled with joy. When we sing this carol we are announcing that God brings us comfort, He is the source of our joy.

Dee learned Joy from her parents.  They were the most adorable people, who liked to wear matching clothes. Clarence memorized and on many occasions recited Psalm 100. May God grant you joy found not in circumstance, but in a deep abiding understanding of who He is and His great love for you.

Psalm 100
A psalm of thanksgiving. 
Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Advent 2013 Week 3: LOVE

I love to feel loved. That longing is part of who we are as humans. That sense of belonging, of being understood, known and accepted.

I Corinthians 13 is the classic go-to in Christian circles for finding God's definition of love.  This chapter does not focus on me receiving love. On the contrary, it is about the love I give others. I chuckle at the first verse regarding language-learning without any love for others as pure noise. My German sounds like a lot of noisy gongs and clanging cymbals most days! But as I read through those first few verses, I find a pretty good list of what love is NOT:

• accomplishment - even of spiritual acts
• knowledge - even of spiritual truths
• works - even from great faith
• giving - even of my own body

The key in loving others must be something other than just these acts alone. Perhaps even something smaller. Read on in verses 4-7.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, it is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

I cannot show this kind of love without the resource of God's spirit in my life. When I grasp His love for me, I can pass that along to others without such a need for reciprocation or validation. I belong to God. I am understood, known and accepted by Him. Christmas is the perfect time to reflect on His great love for us, and in turn, how we can more beautifully and humbly show love to others.