The Willem

Papa Duck is Proud.

// November 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Prayer, Reflection

One time, at church camp, Naomi Platt called me Mama Duck. I’m not about to adopt the nickname and she’s not about to read my blog, but I recognized what she was saying.

I had all my junior high boys lined up behind me that entire week, following me wherever I went and doing whatever I did. They spoke how I spoke, they laughed how I laugh, and now, they evangelize like I evangelize.

This week I’ve had three reports back from disciples I had in Yakima who are doing big things.

One is evangelizing at work constantly, being a witness to those around him of the healing power of God and of His overwhelmingly generous provision.

Another is starting a prayer group focusing on the unreached parts of the world. He said he wants me to be involved with one of the many wonderful internet chat options (I’ll probably be using Skype, as that’s the only one I use regularly). He’s also getting others in our church and town involved, as well as a few people from his travels across the country.

The third is a funny story. Here’s a kid who, as long as I’ve known him, has a passion for Mormons. Seriously, this kid’s goal in life is to save Mormons. I, on the other hand, have a soft spot for atheists, as many of you know I spent most of my life claiming to be one.

Today, I had our guys Bible study in the middle of a mall food court. We were interrupted by a couple of white Mormon missionaries who honestly just seemed like they needed some company. They have no friends here in Mexico. They don’t speak Spanish. They miss their families and friends back home. One even SAID “I’m just a lost guy in Mexico, man.” We befriended them, exchanged numbers, and I expect to be spending some time with them when we get back from the December break. I was thinking of my little duckling all day after that. Thinking of his heart for them and how it’s a beautiful and clear reflection of God’s heart.

What do you suppose he did today? He stirred the pot, of course. He took on some atheists and did exactly what Jesus would do: he loved them by challenging them. Now, he’s still learning how to facilitate those conversations tactfully and purposefully, but he’s bold enough to engage in them. I could not fully describe how much I was beaming when I found out. My little duckling is flying today. Flying with purpose and with boldness.

Afterward, I pulled him aside (aka I messaged him on facebook) and we talked about how it went. We talked about how each conversation has eternal effects and each word spoken, including the tone and placement, has eternal consequences. We talked about purposely and intently forming our rebuttals and our statements of faith, as well as delicately and tactfully forming our controversial arguments. It was awesome.

To say that I needed to hear those reports would be an incredible understatement. Because of my passions and my strengths, I often feel inadequate here in Mexico. This isn’t to say I’m useless. Rather, the ministry I invest the most into and that I’m most drawn to is that of personal development and spiritual maturity. Usually, the only people I can communicate that with are the Engage students and, frankly, they’re tired of hearing old man Jongejan blabber on about “maturity” this and “eternal consequences” that and “representatives of Christ wherever we go” blah blah blah blah blah. I don’t yet have the Spanish vocabulary or comfort level to challenge our Mexican Nationals, and our students no longer (I’m not sure many of them did to begin with) respond to my prodding, so I often simply resort to plodding along with everyone else doing stuff that doesn’t necessarily speak to my heart.

God’s provision is a funny thing. We often think of financial provision only, but He is our provider of so much more. He covers ALL of our needs, every day. He provides the breath in our lungs, the food in our bellies, the sun on our faces, and yes, He provides the reminders that our hard work has produced fruit. Fly, my wee ducklings. Fly.

Transvestite Prostitutes Need Love Too

// November 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // Goals, Prayer, Strongholds

And it’s our job to give it to them. Plaza del Sol, the closest plaza to our house, is notorious for being the major gathering place of transvestite prostitutes in Guadalajara. This is a group of men (Yes, I will forever call them men, for God intended them to be so. More on that later.) is so tortured, so bound and shackled, and yet they are untouchable in the eyes of most Christians. I hesitate to blame this upon the conservative nature of Mexican culture pertaining to homosexuality and other such perversions of God’s beautiful gift to mankind, because I feel like they are equally ignored, abandoned, and avoided in our culture. Nobody knows how to reach out to them, how to love them, and everyone seems too scared to try.

There are thousands of prostitute ministries in this world, and I salute every single one of them. Certainly, some may be approaching the field without having counted the cost or without having a faint inkling of what they’re supposed to do, but they’re trying. They’re reaching out to broken women and offering the hope and the healing that only God Almighty can provide. While not perfect and certainly not easy, clean, or simple, prostitute ministries are something our Father absolutely throws His weight behind. Why? Because it’s an attempt to step inside His will for His beautiful and beloved daughters.

Here’s where our lives in Mexico get messy. Men who have had surgeries to try to look like women are not God’s beautiful and beloved daughters. Instead, they are God’s valiant and mighty sons. They are the leaders of families. They are the strength and the backbone of society. They are the governors and warriors of the people. They are sons of Adam, hand-crafted in the image of God Almighty, the Father in Heaven we are created to worship and enter into a loving relationship with. At least that’s what they were meant to be.

Instead, they are little boys tortured and sexually abused. They are cold, twisted, black hearts. They are bound and shackled by fear, by hate, by disease, by disgust, by neglect, by loneliness, by Satan. They are confused. They are hurting. They are lost. They dwell in darkness. They prowl the streets, repeatedly entering into slavery most foul. They sell their bodies and, thereby, their destinies as mighty men, for drugs, cash, or for a sense of belonging, of being wanted. They are looked upon with scorn by people of all walks. They are mocked by homeless beggars. They are threatened. They are pressured. They are hopeless.

Check that. They are not hopeless. We have a hope for them, and we once seemed hopeless ourselves. I’m reminded of 2 Corinthians 1:9-10

^“9Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us^(A) rely not on ourselves^(B) but on God^(C) who raises the dead. ^10(D) He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.^(E) On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.”

How, when we have been snatched from death (Romans teaches us that the wages of sin are death, and that we were all in sin before Christ snatched us from it with His sacrifice), though we were unworthy, how do we turn a blind eye to these tormented souls? How do we judge them? How do we condemn them? How do we determine that they, or anyone else, is beyond the hope of Christ?

Is it not our responsibility, no, our command from God Himself, to hold out hope for these men? Is it not our responsibility to hold them in prayer? Is it not our responsibility to love them at all costs? Is it not our responsibility to share the love of Jesus Christ, as well as His Good News, with them, before they are lost to the depths of Hell forever?

Of course it is. That’s not the question though, is it? We all know our responsibility. We all know our charge. What we don’t know, is how to do so. For now, it’s with a prayer-walk combined with praying at home for direction (half the group on the walk, half at home) every other Friday night. Someday, we hope to partner with a local church to physically launch this ministry (This is the Engage way. We make sure a local church is involved with our ministries so they will continue in case anything diplomatically catastrophic causes us to suddenly leave the country.), but until that point we are relegated to prayers and prayer-walking only. This is not to diminish prayer, as it is a vital part of one’s spiritual life and any ministry not covered in prayer generally serves very little, if any purpose whatsoever. However, we, as missionaries, tend to be people of action rather than people of waiting. These men are dying out there, and we want to intervene and help.

Please join us in prayers for these men, for the daily lives they lead (Who knows what that looks like? Do they have families? Day jobs? Can they even go to the store without being mocked and ridiculed?), for the nights they suffer through, for conviction and transformation, for light in their dark world, for partners in this ministry, for their safety and health, and for God to be glorified when they are redeemed by the blood of Christ. He died for them too. They just don’t know it yet.

A Prayer Over this House

// October 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Poems, Prayer

Dear Lord, bless this house. Bless those who are here, those who have come and gone, and those who are yet to come. Let Your name be glorified in all that we do, in all that we say, and in how we walk according to Your way.

Dear Lord, please bless these people. Bless them as they walk into obscurity, unfamiliarity, and into a clarity that is only of Your doing. Let them find hearts prepared for Your Gospel, soil freshly tilled and rife with life. Let them exalt Your name.

Dear Lord, please open their eyes. That they may see what you see. Soften, pierce, open, shatter, and remake their hearts, that they may feel what you feel and become a perfect dwelling place for Your Holy Spirit. Let them be broken like Your heart is broken by the fall of man.

Dear Lord, let me weep. Let me see the pain and the chains, the bound and broken all around me who need only to know of You and Your deep love for them. Let my eyes be opened and let Your heart pour out through my mouth and through my hands and feet.

Dear Lord, remind us daily of our deep-seated need for You alone. Let our sinful pride not hinder the work You desire to do in us and through us. Let us genuinely and fully surrender not only our weaknesses, but that which we consider strength, for it also is weakness in the light of what You would do.

Dear Lord, call to them, that they would recognize Your voice and the call to repentance. That they would heed Your command and enter into rightstanding with You. Let Your flock be multiplied fold upon fold, herd upon herd.

Dear Lord, let Your will be done. If need be, cast us aside as we stand in the way. If needed, use us in magnificent and glorious ways. If needed, speak through us and let Your name be glorified in all that we do and say.

Dear Lord, let this house be a city on a hill and a lighthouse to this city and this country. Let those who commit to time here be refreshed always, that they may reflect Your glory off of their face, with the veil of sin ripped aside.

Dear Lord, bring transformation to this place. Let Your name be lifted high and let Your praises be sung in the streets. We submit to You. We honor You. We worship You.

Amen.