Chicken Foot Soup for the Soul

The Psalmist writes in Psalm 51, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." As I mentioned in my first posting, some of the ways that God speaks to us is through our circumstances, the church and the Bible. As I reflect about the activities of the day it is this scripture, Psalm 51:10-12, that reaches into my very soul and speaks to me.

Today we were involved in food ministry hosted by Primera Iglesia Evangelica Bautista de Cochabamba (AKA First Baptist Calama). Two days a week the church opens its doors to the immigrants of the Andes Mountains. We arrived about one hour early to help prepare the soup for the day. One of the Pastors invited us to listen to the Word, in the Quechua language. Most of the people that had come were sitting on the concrete floor of the open air sanctuary. When we came in we headed toward some risers in the back, but immediately I felt compelled to go and sit with the people.

I just want to share some of the things that I observed while sitting on the floor and how God spoke. There is a man to my diagonal right dress in an old pair of tennis shoes that are missing the shoe strings, corduroy pants, a worn out mock turtle neck sweater and and a jacket. His face is dark brown, rugged and worn. The man has a sweet smile and a genuine concern for the people who are coming in to the area. As a lady walks in she doesn't notice that she dropped some Boivianos on the floor, but the man sees it and instantly arises to get them for her. After he hands them back to her, he then goes over to a plastic pan that is full of water sitting on top of a bucket. He dips his hands into the bucket and meticulously washes them off in the water. He then grabs a coca cola plastic bottle full of water and rinses his hands. As he is taking his seat, he removes a rag from his back pocket and drys every part of his hand. There were several things that I observed about this man in a short period of time. One, he cared for people and second, he cared for himself. That is a simple lesson of life, before you can treat others with respect, you have to respect yourself. The large area is full of 35-40 people ranging in age from two-years-old to maybe 60 (It is hard to tell the age of a person because of the shorter life expectancy of the people). I see a young boy who is eating a piece of bread that his mom removed from her shoulder sack. He is dressed in an dingy looking sweat shirt and sweat pants that are too big for him, but he doesn't seem to mind that the pants are riding him like a plumber. A lady who looks to be elderly sat down in front of me and for a half hour she sat on her folded under legs. I see a blind man and I watch a man struggle to walk with two home-made crutches down the wide hallway, up the ramp and to a bench. He has to walk on the tips of his toes and essentially throw his hips side to side to get his legs to move. When the time comes to serve, Melinda, myself and my family get up from the mist of the people and head toward the table where the soup, hot-tea and oranges are. We have not understood any of the message, but I observed hope in the eyes and posture of the people. Before we get to the table, the Pastor has said something about us and all of the people light up and start waving their hands welcoming us and showing their gratitude. My heart is overwhelmed that I am getting to share this with my family. Once the soup was served, we were invited to eat with the people. As the soup was handed to my wife she noticed that there was something unfamiliar with the contents; a large chicken foot protruding from the soup. It was here that Psalm 51 was fitting, "grant me a willing spirit to sustain me." What was unfamiliar and unappealing to me was lunch for the little boy across from me who was sucking that foot for every juice that he could get out of it.

So, today God used a chicken foot (circumstance), a mountain man (His church) and His word to speak to me. Seeing God at work never ceases to amaze me. And tonight my prayer is that my heart will be steadfast to Him for my entire life.

Time

If you were given 1440 dollars every day and you had to spend it. If you didn't, it would be gone forever,what would you spend it on? Each day that is what we are given; not in dollars, but in time; 1440 minutes How much of our time is wasted on television, Internet, video games or other senseless task. I have a friend of mine who has cancer and she lives every moment as if it is her last. In the bible we are told that when Christ returns it will be in the twinkling of an eye; that's pretty fast. The Word also says that this is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2 For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.) I wonder where the urgency of the church has gone. We are busy building bigger buildings with basketball courts and fellowship halls with the goal of increasing our attendance at church and have forgotten the Jesus said to "Go", not build. Jesus never built one building, fellowship hall, basketball court or any other establishment, yet, how many followed him? When the church was started and a need arose someone sold a field and met the need. They didn't have yard sales, bake sales, car washes or go to the world for help and thousands were being saved daily because someone took the time to build a relationship with the people. There is enough money in the church today that there should not be a single need that is not being met within the body of Christ. In reality this blog is about what we do with our time and I am sometimes ashamed of the way I spend mine.

Today we went back to Villa Porvenir and did a small VBS with the church of the village. Since the group from South Parkersburg has left we have formed a new team to do mini VBS at different villages and communities withing Cochabamba. The team consists of my family, our interpreter Melinda, Carmen and Lizbeth. A couple of days ago we went to the open market and bought supplies for the mission project. Our plan is to theme around David and Goliath. The kids worked on a short introduction about their self and we also danced, fed them warm soy milk, did a drama from the point of David and a craft with the kids.

This is my third time to the village and it was a completely different experience than the past two visits. When we arrived I was not timid with embracing the children and speaking to them, even though there is a language barrier. There are certain languages that are universal world wide; love, an embrace, a smile, and compassion. We spent a little over three hours with the children sharing the gospel and loving on them. My life is changing the more time that I spend outside of the wall of the organized Church. I know that we need one other no matter what color, nationality or sex that we are and that there is vital importance in meeting together as the church. None of us are strong enough to stand alone when it comes to walking the walk of a follower of Jesus; we were created for relationship. It has been two weeks since I have watched TV, played a video game or watched sports and the world is still spinning. It is all about time...

Villa Porvenir (The Up and Coming Village)

On June 12 I got up out of bed and went to the bathroom of my hotel and turned on the hot water and stepped into the hot shower. Because I had made this trip to the House of Hope before, I realized this would be my last hot shower for 23 days. Since then, I turn on the water of my shower and make some odd noises as I splash the freezing water onto myself and try to get every nook and cranny.
It is interesting the things that so many of us take for granted; hot water, turning on the sink and getting a glass of water, flipping a switch and having light and many other conveniences that we have grown accustomed to. We joined together with the group from South Parkersburg, West Virginia and journeyed a few miles into the lower mountains of Cochabamba to a little village called Villa Porvenir; the up and coming village. This is a place absent from many of the conveniences that I have become so reliant upon, but is a village which does not lack in joy or the spirit of Christ. There is a Pastor there who proclaims the word to his church of 100 to 150 every week. What is unique about his congregation is that its made up of primarily children; hence the name. In the 9th chapter of Matthew Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." An eye opening statistic that I obtained from www.bolhope.org web page is, Bolivia's poorest communities have an overwhelming 65% of children suffer anemia and are seriously below normal height for one's age. Part of ministry to this community included bathing almost 200 children whom ranged from one-year-old to early teens. We fed them warm soy milk, gave them a toothbrush, piece of gum, a card and a Zany band. The best part of this ministry was the interaction with the kids of the community. We tossed a ball around with them, wrestled them and loved on them every chance we got. The hardest part was that we ran out of water and had to turn away about 2o children.
I am very proud of Boyd and Bail because they showed such compassion to the children of the village. Baillie helped wash the babes while Boyden, Lizbeth (a friend we have made in Bolivia) and myself handed out the packages. I observed such a joy in the children of Villa Porvenir as they interacted with SPC and our family. Evangelist, David Ring, put it this way, "Contentment is not getting want you want, but wanting what you've got." So there is the question that I ask myself now, do I want what I've got and is it enough. Time here is making realize how important the blessing are that I have and if Christ would never do another thing for me, He has already done enough.

"Talitha koum!" ("Little girl, I say to you, get up!")

In the fifth chapter of Mark there is a story recorded about Jesus going to see a little girl who has been pronounced dead. Upon his arrival there are morners and the family expressing their feeling for the girls passing. Jesus takes with him three of his closes disciples along with the parents and enters the room. He then took the little girl by the hand and said, "Talitha koumi" which means Little girl, I say to you, get up.

Over the past 5 days we have been very busy at the House of Hope in Bolivia. The first two days we relaxed and did a little sight seeing, just to get acclimated to the altitude and weariness of traveling for such a long time. We took the kids to El Christo, which is a large statue (120ft) of Jesus that is perched on a hill overlooking the city of Cochabamba. We also got to eat at a restaurant where they serve a $5 steak that makes a $30 steak in the U.S look small. One of the reasons for this trip was to see how the kids would adapt in a different culture. They have been enjoying there stay so far and have been hard at work help us host the youth group of 18 from Parkersburg, WV. This past Tuesday we went to look at the sight where the group was going to be doing some work. The place is called the Koum Center (I will write about this place in a moment).

The group arrived on Wednesday and we will be hosting them until next Wednesday. There has been so much work in hosting the group. We have to make sure that they are fed breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also, make sure that they they have all the supplies for the work that they are doing, their laundry, and basic needs of the group. Our day usually begins around 6am and does not end until 10pm. Yesterday Boyden, Mario (our missionary), and myself took the supplies to the group at the Koum center, about 45 min away, and as we were getting them settled in we were short 8 paint brushes and our ladders. So, Mario said that we would go back to the House of Hope and get the ladders, but we would have to stop and buy the brushes. On the way, he asked me how comfortable I was with my Spanish, and I told him, "not very". He then asked me if I would like to try and negotiate with the clerk at the paint store market? He told me that he would tell me what to say; I agreed. What he failed to tell me is that he was going to park two streets away and he was not going to go with me. He told me not to pay more than 12 B's (Bolivianos) a piece and I was to get 5 brushes. My heart was racing around 1000 beats per minute and I entered the street market. The clerk wanted 15 B's and by divine intervention, I must have looked upset at his price, he dropped to 9 B's each for a total of 45 B's; success! We then drove to another store to get outside paint brushes and he told me the same, no more than 12 B's. I went into the store and asked for the brushes (I had to use a lot of hand gestures and props to get him to understand) and the clerk said 45 B's and in my excitement I said yes. As I was leaving the market I realized that 45 B's were good if I was buying 5 brushes, but I was only buying 3; that's 15 B's per brush (live and learn).

Adjusting to the culture has been very interesting and we have found much enjoyment in the experience; however, there have been some sad and eye opening moments in the adventure thus far. As I mention, one of the places that we have been working is the Koum Center, which is located in a small village on the outskirts of Cochabamba. There is a young lady there who has been a student in the local Seminary college in the city. She has a brother,Dillion, who is handicap. Let me explain a little about how those with disabilities are treated within the Bolivian culture. If you have a child who is born with a disability, it is considered a burden and in most cases, the child is put in a room in the back of the house and is given food, water and bathed, but no social interaction. The young lady was inspired, by the workings of the House of Hope, to open her house to those within the community who had children with disabilities. Here, she builds value into the children and gives them a sense of self worth. See, as missionaries, we are not called to change people in the culture, but we are called to point them toward Jesus, and let the Holy Spirit empower and inspire them. I have realized that this is everywhere. The bible says that when Christ is lifted up that he would draw all men unto him. (John 12:32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.") This trip is teaching me to let God be God and Keith be Keith.

Yesterday, we went and bought about 200 pieces of clothing in the open market and today we are headed to a community to wash babies. My prayer is for God to help my family see the children and adults at the community the way that He sees them...."Give me your eyes for just for just one second. Give me your eyes so I can see everything that I keep missing. Give me your love for humanity. Give me your arms for the broken hearted, the ones that are far beyond my reach. Give me your heart for the ones forgotten. Give me your eyes so I can see." -Brandon Heath

How God Speaks

Before I begin to talk about this mission in Bolivia, I would like to lay down some foundational thinking that we have as a family about God and His call in our lives. Several years ago I did a study in a book written by Henry Blackaby called experiencing God and my Christian life has never been the same. There were many challenges that the book issued to the believer. One of the statements that was made was that if a Christian did not know when God was speaking, he was in trouble at the very heart of his Christianity; boy was I in trouble. Sure, God spoke to Moses through a non-consuming fire bush, Elisha in a still small voice, Jacob in a dream, and Balaam by a donkey, but these were great men of the bible and I was just an
average person who wasn't so good. I didn't think that God had much to say to me because I thought that that kind of thinking was reserved for the preacher and priest type only.
So the question, does God speak to anybody? began to eat a little at my soul. The Word plainly says that God speaks to all who have called upon His name. (1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.)
The next question is how does He speak to me and how often? I think that one of satan's greatest tools is to get a person to feel that they are not worthy or qualified to be used by God. To often the spirit of fear paralyzes the believer into thinking that he/she is incapable or not worthy of doing great things for the Lord. Just listen to the promise found in the Bible given by Peter in his first letter, "but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shewing forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." Here's the revelation, that YE is ME and YOU! Anyone who has called on the name of the Lord has become part of a royal priesthood; you are called and accountable. It is not reserved for only a few whom have said yes, but to all. With the call comes the responsibility of advancing the Kingdom of God. So, since all mean all, then all are called to good works. The Blackaby study emphasized the voice of God and how today He reveals Himself to His people. It is by this, the voice of God, that we have measured this call to missions in our lives.
There are five ways in which God speaks to His people. The ways that He Speaks are through circumstances, His people (the Church), prayer, Bible, and the Holy Spirit. A little over ten years ago we began to lookfor God at work and then went to join Him in His work. The call that is placed in every believers life is GO. Many times folks can be busy on waiting on a personal invitation from God and miss the fact that He is already working and has given the invite. It was through these five ways that God continues to reveal Himself to us. When our son , Boyden, was two he asked his mom when wee were going to Africa. This was God speaking through a child to say get ready; not wait like waiting for a bus, but preparing by contiuning to advance the Kingdom. The Lord has used the Bible to impress upon our hearts scripture backing scripture calling to be prepared in season and out of season. (2 Timothy 4:1,2 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.) Those who have misunderstood our placement in the body of Christ or questioned our focus in our current ministry feel that part of the body of Christ is going to be affected by our call to missions, but as a good friend of mine once said, "God will not destroy one part of his body to advance another part. We are all called to be workers in the kingdom of God. I will try to reveal in these blogs in what way God is speaking during this mission trip to Bolivia.

Preparing for Missions

Hello, we are the Myers family exploring the call to missions in our lives. Keith, Deb, Boyden and Baillie...Myers family call, "AhhhOoooAhhh!" I am a Pastor of a small country Baptist Church and an elementary school teacher. My wife, Deb, works with dislocated workers and at-risk youth. Our two children have just moved on to 6th and 7th grade. We are a family who loves the Lord and believe in Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." The theology that we are learning to develop is the "Palm Tree Theology", deeply rooted into the Word of God, and remain flexible to the call.
Over the past 10 years we have been involved in local, state-side and global missions. Last year Deb and I traveled to Bolivia, South American for our first experience of cross-seas missions. On June 11, we will travel back to Bolivia as an entire family for a 23 day journey into exploring cross-seas missions full-time. We have been blessed by the people of God both financially and prayerfully. In this call, we have also been faced with opposition, but we do not sweat the small stuff, nor do we give satan a foothold in the ministry that the Lord has called, prepared and sent us into.
Acts 1:8 reads, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." and Matthew 28:18-20 says, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
So, there they are; scriptures to ALL of those who have called upon the name of Jesus and have asked Him to be their Lord. I can't go on as a Christian and not answer the call of these scriptures. Waiting on the Lord was not meant to be like waiting for a bus to come and pick me up; while waiting for the return of a promise there is work to be done!
I have decided to begin a blog about the explorations of missions and the call of God in mine and my family's life. One of the first questions I have asked myself is why missions? I have answered this by the above scriptures. I believe that as a believer of Christ, my life questions can be found in the Word of God. He did not ask those who wanted to follow Him to go forth; He commanded them to go. Missions is not an option as a follower of Christ, EVERYONE who has called out to Jesus has received the same command--GO. When we begin to separate the call into compartments it is like going to a buffet and choosing just the things that we want or what works best for us, but this is far from the Christian life. In this journey into missions I have learned that if we have breath, then we are called to go forth into the world. The awesome thing about it is that He provided all of the needs that I have had and He will continue to meet those daily. When looking into the Scriptures I read about His mighty promises like never leaving nor forsaking me, giving me power to do good works, preparing the work ahead of time, providing the words when I am out of thoughts, and the list just goes on and on. Bottom line, He is already doing all the work and has graciously asked me to join His business in advancing the kingdom of God. We know that where ever we are, whether it be in our local church, community or another country we are trying are best to remain faithful to the call of God in our lives.
This is the beginning of a 23 day journey to Bolivia that I am both excited and nervous about, but I am learning to lean, I'm learning to lean, I'm learning to lean on Jesus.