All Praise to God...

Greetings Family and Friends,

I am writing this newsletter from a new cafe in Hartford, CT called "Metro Cafe."  It is my first time here and so far it seems like it might be “my new place” to work from. It is less than a ten-minute walk from our apartment and the iced latte I am currently drinking is “legit.”  It’s very good. The reason I am telling you this story is because I always write from what is honest and real and currently happening and I have a confession.

As I took my seat and opened my computer, I glanced up and saw a man across the road with no shirt on.  It’s 48˚F and quite windy.  My first inclination was to take a picture and send it to Danielle with some sort of snarky comment belittling this man. I reached for my phone but I was quickly convicted by the Lord that this man who was dirty and wore tattered pants and was carrying a collection of black plastic garbage bags is probably homeless and quite possibly suffering from mental illness.

I put my phone down and instead of taking a picture, I prayed. I prayed for forgiveness and that my sin nature would be subdued so that my first instinct would be to have compassion rather than scorn. I also prayed for this dear man’s life.  As I looked up, he was gone. Next time maybe I will try to help or maybe I will do the same thing all over again. I hope not, but those of you have been redeemed by Christ and called to Him know how fragile we all are and how complete the fall of Adam was. We will not be completely freed from sin's grip until we are rid of our mortal bodies. Anyways...I pray I do better next time. 

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me", (Matthew 25:35 ESV)

The reason I confess this to you is that sometimes in Chile we minister to folks similar to this man. When “on the mission field,” I would never have not wanted to help as my first instinct and this is the reason I tell you this story ; Please pray that I and all of us in ministry would not forget that the whole world is our mission field, not just when we are in “our” country, in my case Chile. I also confess that being in ministry can and often does make one weary and sometimes we just want to turn that part of our life off for a while. Please remember to pray for everyone you know who is in ministry as a vocation and calling.

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