Youth Who Live Justly, Show Mercy, Walk Humbly (Feature Friday!)

A Year of Being Kind blog – Friday, August 15, 2014

Youth Who Live Justly, Show Mercy, Walk Humbly (Feature Friday!)

A friend of mine volunteers at a nearby hospice, about once a week. She told me how awesome it was to have a large number of youth come to the hospice. This was several weeks ago, when the youth made blankets for the hospice patients. My friend saw how affected and moved the young people were. Talk about emotion!

This activity moved and intrigued me. It’s not the typical activity for youth to do, much less a large number of youth. So, I asked my friend Ann where the young people were from. Which group sent them? St. Viator’s High School in Arlington Heights was the answer.

I did a little footwork, and found the contact information I needed. After a bit of telephone tag, Father Cory Brost and I finally were talking, person to person. He heads up St. Viator’s High School as President. He told me about an amazing summer program at the high school for youth 6^th grade to 9^th grade (just entering high school). It’s a one week service camp called “Praise and Service.” He related about the two different tracks in the camp, one choir track and the other track for service opportunities. Service and song make up the core of St. Viator’s mission, alongside of the importance of education excellence.

This summer camp had a total of 108 students in attendance in the camp the third week of July 2014, from 12:30 to 5:30 pm. 70 were campers, 6^th through 9^th grades. The rest were high school-aged leaders and recent alumni as facilitators, helping the campers on both tracks make the most of the week of service. Plus, 12 adult leaders also participated.

80 students went out each day of the camp week. Fr. Cory wasn’t certain, but he suspected that these young people had 80 different responses to their activities. Different people were moved by differing aspects of their work. I thought that Fr. Cory’s appreciation for the individualized reactions was most welcome. Awesome!

I asked Fr. Cory about the visit to the hospice. Yes, he told me that many of the youth were deeply touched by the patients, and by the opportunity to make blankets for them. He also mentioned another afternoon activity later that week. The camp invited seniors from the community to St. Viator’s. The youth acted as hosts. Another opportunity to be kind, be helpful.

After Fr. Cory and I ended our wonderful conversation, I reflected on how deeply moving it was for St. Viator’s High School to be so loving and giving with their time, resources, and expertise. Truly, an opportunity for the youth to live out the tenets of Micah 6:8: Live Justly, Show Mercy, and Walk Humbly. God willing, I pray that I might have such enthusiasm. God, thanks for their excited, exuberant, emotional acts of helpful service. And, thanks for showing Your love through the service of others, too.

@chaplaineliza

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Helping, Serving—in the Short Term (Feature Friday!)

A Year of Being Kind blog –Friday, June 13, 2014

Helping, Serving—in the Short Term (Feature Friday!)

I have a confession to make. I have never been on a short term mission trip. Not out of the country. Not in the United States (and there are plenty of places to minister here!).

But, I am fascinated by the short term mission experiences talked about by my new friend in South America, Rich Brown. The mission he helped found, IncaLink, has a tremendous outreach and ministry for groups from North America. Yes, IncaLink runs several kinds of mission outreaches in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. A primary way of ministry is touching the lives of youth in a number of ways—through youth job training and schooling, training youth in leadership skills, and bringing young people to South America in internship roles with IncaLink.

A companion ministry in IncaLink is very much linked with the work with youth: short term mission. When I hear short term mission, one thing that immediately leaps to my mind is groups of youth from various churches in North America, gearing up to go to some faraway place over spring break, or during summer vacation. IncaLink’s response? Yes! Certainly, that’s a part of their short term team mission and ministry! But that’s not all. Not by a long shot!

Any kind of team, of any description, can come to IncaLink and be sent out on a worthwhile ministry to one of IncaLink’s sites. (How awesome is that?) Not only youth groups, but teams of college young people, teams of men, or of women, groups of senior citizens, and other groups of just about any description are welcomed and put to good use. Doing service. Being kind. Seizing the opportunity that God offers to enter into relationship with God’s people.

When I spoke with Rich through Skype some days ago (I still think that technology is SO cool!), Rich told me that small group ministry is so important to IncaLink. Not only are they fully committed to providing God-inspired short term experiences, but a portion of the money that is paid to the mission helps fund further ministry. A portion of the money each short term team member pays into IncaLink is sent directly to the other ministries and outreaches that IncaLink provides for so many youth, children, women and men. I could tell how excited Rich was, as he told me about this “financial engine” that provides for so many wonderful things to be done in many locations.

Rich wanted to add that he would very much like young people—in college, in their twenties—to consider short term mission experiences. Internships, too. Longer than a week, he means! “Come and see,” he says. Come and see what worthwhile ministry is going on at the dump in Peru. Or the orphanage in Ecuador. Or women’s prison ministry, or ministry to seniors, or to special needs youth.

Come and see. Come for the love of God. Stay for the love of God’s people.

@chaplaineliza

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Being Kind, Playing Soccer at the Dump! (Feature Friday!)

A Year of Being Kind blog – Friday, June 6, 2014

soccer – work in progress
@heartofathlete

Being Kind, Playing Soccer at the Dump! (Feature Friday!)

I’m a mom. Even though my children are grown (or, in the case of my youngest, almost grown at seventeen), I still feel very much a mom. When I hear about an outreach that reaches to children and youth, I take special interest.

My friends and former missionaries Alison and Ivan introduced me to Rich and Elisa Brown, founders of IncaLink. I wrote about their outreach last Friday. IncaLink now has ministries in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. I talked with Rich last weekend (through the miracles of modern technology—through Skype!).

While we talked, I asked Rich about how IncaLink got started. He was eager to tell me! Both he and his wife were missionary kids (MKs), growing up in South America. Early in their marriage, they both knew they were called to work as missionaries. They also knew they did not want to work with youth (Little did they know what was ahead!)

They started work for a church in Raleigh, North Carolina. The church wanted them—as youth pastors. They served four years there, also helping in short term mission outreach and trips. They transitioned to full-time missionaries, going to Lima, Peru. The work that was waiting for them there was—you guessed it—as youth pastors. After they transitioned to other youth ministries in Peru, Rich went to a large youth conference. He was moved by God to consider the garbage dump as a place of service. When he returned to his ministry in Trujillo, Peru, he thought about a possible new ministry at the dump, for a week. For a month. And then forgot about it.

Two years went by. Their denomination was preparing to close operations in Peru and move Rich and Elisa in a few months. All of a sudden, Rich remembered the garbage dump. Through a series of circumstances, Rich brought a number of Peruvian youth workers to the dump to give out pizza. This moved the youth workers intensely. Some days later, Rich made plans for a second trip to the dump, and 50 people showed up to go—some of them were atheists. They wanted to see what these Christians were doing at the dump! As Rich said, “The youth workers were poor, but they were so moved they were crying at the poverty in the dump!”

God was indeed moving in the hearts of the indigenous youth workers. Rich had a time limit imposed by the closing of his position, but this didn’t stop the other workers! They felt led to do youth ministry with youth at the dump. Initially, they started playing soccer with the youth, which led to starting other kinds of ministries. Soon they developed in depth relationships, coming alongside of the youth of the dump as they combed through the garbage, as well as teaching the youth useful skills.

This ministry started over six years ago, and Rich and Elisa left Peru shortly afterwards. But the ministry to the youth, children, women and men of the garbage dump continues. The indigenous workers have planned some long-term projects at the dump in the last few years, and successfully carried them out with the help and prayers of supporters of IncaLink, as well as many others throughout the world.

Thank God for the workers who listened to the leading to go to the dump. And be kind. Be of service.

@chaplaineliza

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Youth Being Kind (Feature Friday!)

A Year of Being Kind blog – Friday, January 10, 2014

Little Houses Painting by Mindy Newman

Youth Being Kind (Feature Friday!)

It’s Friday, and it’s service-time! Actually, any time is time to serve—as I’m readily finding out. Also, it’s time for Feature Friday.

I graduated from seminary almost nine years ago. Many of my seminarian friends are now actively serving in professional capacities. Including Dennis, who is pastor of Simpson United Methodist Church in Evansville, Indiana. Dennis and I are now Facebook friends. Not too many days ago, I happened to see something on his Facebook page that intrigued me. So, being naturally inquisitive, I clicked through and checked it out. “FREE HOME REPAIR” was the headline.

Since I was the volunteer mission communication coordinator for my former church for about ten years, I still have great interest in anything mission-related. This FREE HOME REPAIR appeared to be a likely mission opportunity.  I opened the webpage. “Work Camps – home repair youth mission trips” was the secondary header. Even though the snow lies thickly on the ground (both here in the Chicago area, as well as throughout Indiana) in the first full week of January, it is none too soon to make out an application for Team Jesus Workcamp 2014. My friend Dennis was encouraging members and friends of Simpson Church to be sure to get in their applications by February 14.

Youth volunteers doing hands-on work for a mission project is not all that unusual. However, a feature of this particular workcamp that caught my eye was that the work teams will be “representing many Christian denominations.”  How awesome is that? Different denominations, and all growing in their faith through service to others. With hammers, dry wall, paint brushes, tubes of caulk. Oh, and smiles, thankfulness, and gratitude.

As I said, the work teams representing differing groups and different denominations  attract me more and more. My personal religious journey is all over the Protestant map, with a sprinkling of other spiritualities, too. Added to that, my chaplain training was in several multi-cultural hospitals where many faiths are represented. I have a deep appreciation for that God-shaped hole that St. Augustine talked about, and have seen that hole filled in many differing ways.

I know, through first-hand opportunity, that service to families that include elderly, low-income and less-abled people can be rewarding. The experience of doing service in community with other people, plus growing in faith in God, incorporates this two-way dimension. First, the horizontal dimension. The volunteer workers become cohesive, sometimes cementing relationships that may last for far longer than the home repairs they accomplish. The workers can also build relationships with those they work for, minister to. Second, the vertical relationship. This aspect draws youth workers and youth leaders closer to God, and has the potential to release God’s love to many people. Not only to the workers, and to the recipients of the work, but also far beyond these.

This work effort is only one of so many in the United States. But for each family in and around Evansville that is helped, it means so much.

@chaplaineliza

Of Piano Playing and Being Kind

A Year of Being Kind blog – Sunday, January 5, 2014

Of Piano Playing and Being Kind

I received a call last night. A pianist was unable to show up for two worship services this morning. I was asked whether I would be able to substitute at the last minute. Of course! I said. I’ve been at both of these retirement homes in Chicago a number of times, just not under these last-minute-circumstances.

Sometimes I preach and lead worship, more recently I’ve also played the piano, and a few times I’ve played both roles. So when I walked into the chapel at the first home, I knew all of the dear seniors present. I spoke to a few on my way to the piano. Because of snow and ice on the roads (as well as on my car), I came just two or three minutes before the service was to start. I played through two hymns as a prelude. After the service, I played a number of hymns as a postlude. Familiar hymns. Since I’ve been preaching, leading worship and playing for services at retirement homes over the past number of years, I know which hymns are more likely to elicit sighs and nods of recognition, and even seniors singing the words along with my playing. Thus it was with my postlude. One dear senior (mid-eighties? late eighties?) still has a very nice-sounding voice, and a marvelous memory for the words of many, many hymns.  As I played, I smiled as I listened to one, two, then three seniors singing the words of the hymns.

After almost ten minutes of playing the postlude, I rose from the piano bench to get ready to leave. I noticed that fully half of the seniors gathered there for the service had remained. They were listening to me, playing the piano. I stopped for a moment, realizing why they were still there. It was then that I heard the thanks. Sincere thank yous and gratitude coming from several of these dear seniors.

I quickly slogged several miles through the snow to the second retirement home, where this worship service was repeated. Again, the piano playing. The hymn singing was not quite as strong, but equally heartfelt. And after the worship, I again played a number of hymns for the postlude.

I wonder if this piano playing was the most important thing I’ve done all week, in God’s eyes? And afterwards, to have several of these dear seniors say ‘thank you’ with such sincerity and gratitude? I know many in this youth-oriented (even youth-worshipping) culture do not put much stock in their seniors. Many thoughtless or uncaring people today consider them to be not-as-important. Even forgettable.  The descriptive word to reference them is no longer ‘elders’ but ‘seniors.’ This telling change in vocabulary begins to show the shift in thinking.

Thank God that I was available and able to play the piano at a moment’s notice. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had this revelation. What a way for me to be kind and tenderhearted, as Paul reminded the believers in Ephesus. Please, God, show me how to be kind and tenderhearted tomorrow, too.

@chaplaineliza