July 2005
Hello to all my dear Friends in Christ!
Once again it is my pleasure to share with you some of the insights
I have gained from my ministry experiences. This past year I have
been living in the capital city of Croatia, Zagreb, and cooperating
with Croatian professionals in three hospitals and an association
for disabled children. The time has simply flown by, as I have
been busy adjusting to the hectic pace of life here and trying
to balance all the demands placed upon me by these various institutions.
Setting priorities, i.e. deciding with whom I will work and for
how much time, is a tremendous challenge, as all institutions
have children who need attention.
This past year has also been a challenge for me personally, since
I had a major, unexpected kidney operation while home in the United
States for the holidays last Christmas. I have been blessed by
all your support and prayers during my long and difficult recovery
and am truly grateful for all of you!
I believe it is by no coincidence that the Lord has seen fit
to place me in a position to minister to children who have serious,
chronic illnesses and disabilities. My health issues have created
a deep understanding of the realities faced by these children
and their families and a sincere compassion for them. Many have
reminded me of the power of prayer to heal, and I have seen it
in the lives of the children with whom I work and, indeed, in
my own life. However, it is also in the Lord’s will not
to heal, or at least not completely. This is hard for us to understand
and accept, and it brings to mind the eternal question: “Why?
Why must people suffer?” I am not a theologian, but I have
seen that suffering is the stimulus for the most profound love
and mercy shown by people to each other. To have true empathy
for another, it seems as if we must first go through a similar
trial or tribulation ourselves. If wisdom is based on life experience,
so it is with the ability to help others through difficult circumstances.
I receive special blessings from these children because they
remind me constantly of the preciousness and fragility of life.
One day a child is alive the next, he is not. It sounds cold,
but it is a fact and one we ourselves will have to face—our
own mortality. Most people can put it out of their minds—death
is so far away, abstract. But on the pediatric cancer ward, for
example, it is all too close and immanent. Thus I reflect and
sometimes even struggle at making the most of each and every day.
What does God want me to do today? How can I best serve Him? Even
those who don’t know Latin know the phrase Carpe diem, “seize
the day.” But it goes beyond that. We as believers are called
to more than just a hedonistic understanding of the phrase. We
are not called to live lives that are filled with more and more
pleasures or material goods, but rather to dedicate ourselves
to bringing about God’s kingdom on earth. In tension with
that is the call to live life abundantly, to enjoy life. We do
not have to deny ourselves everything that brings us comfort,
nor are we prohibited from relaxing. For as we know from the Scriptures,
even Jesus, the son of God, got tired and needed time to rest.
The medieval mystics discovered that there must be a balance
between doing and being, between working for the kingdom and enjoying
the blessings God has given us on this earth. Thus I seek to walk
this narrow but deeply fulfilling path. By spending quality time
with children who are ill and by working hard to offer activities
in the hospital that bring happiness and a sense of accomplishment,
I live out the “doing” part of this balance. By walking
in the park on a bright, Saturday morning listening to classical
music from the gazebo and sipping coffee, I am living out the
equally important “being” side of the balance. It
is important that we all work hard to bring about God’s
kingdom, and as mission workers we often have this burning drive
within us, but the Lord also wants us to stop and see what little
blessings He has for us along the path. Indeed, by living life
to the fullest—spending quality time with our loved ones,
creating a work of art, or simply twirling around in the middle
of the forest sucking the clean, fresh air into our lungs we are
affirming the goodness of life and honoring the memories of all
the children whose lives were short, but full.
Yours in Christ,
Brett
The 2005
Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 176 |
