Lessons Along the Way...
This is long so bear with me this time! (especially you, Dad)
We will have so many stories to tell when we return. Today, I want to tell you about Veronica and her family.
Veronica is a 20 year old young woman whom we met in Penza. She lives in a three-room (one bedroom, living room, and kitchen) flat with her parents. Veronica had a younger brother who died a year ago. While we were in Penza, she helped us with translations and visited us regularly, helping the girls and us with questions and general information.
Veronica is a music student at the local university. She studied for over a year in the United States, and had secured a scholarship to UTA in Arlington, Texas, intending to pursue her degree in music. However, following 9/11 she, like many others “visiting” the US, lost her tourist visa due to heightened security restrictions.
Veronica studies at the local university and teaches music (piano mostly) to earn an income to support her family. Her parents, like many adults living in Penza, are without a steady income. Her father works “odd jobs” and plays his saxophone on the streets in Penza at night. Her mother works doing various domestic tasks to support her family (she did our laundry while in Penza). Scott wondered why it took 48 hours for about two loads of laundry. He hadn’t realized that she had no washer or dryer. All of our clothing were washed by hand, hung to dry, and then ironed. She ironed everything…and I mean EVERYTHING! She even did small repairs (buttons, small tears, etc) without prompting.
We were humbled by the gracious hospitality and generosity of people to whom life has given so little. Scripture says that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. When we walk amongst friends who live in such stark contrast to us, this truth is even more telling. These people were ready to offer (and often did) anything they owned to meet our “needs.” So often we, in
America, give what we can no longer use, have little need for, or can replace with ease. The Kingdom of God comes to us in the face of the widow who gives her last coins, the woman pouring out precious oil on the dirty, road-weary feet of Christ, and in the faces of children, forgotten and alone. Jesus says what we do to the least of these, we do to Him.
We have been reminded again and again on this journey that God is about the business of reconciliation, restitution, and justice…that He is a God of mercy who requires nothing less of us. “He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you. But to DO justice, to LOVE mercy, and to walk humbly with your GOD.” Micah 6.8
We recently watched a video at church (Grace Fellowship UMC, Katy) about a family called to the mission field. They were/are a prominent, wealthy family in Dallas. One statement that they made has really pierced our hearts. They talked about how they came to realize that God was calling them to the mission field, and what held them back. They said something like this…
“It was hard to come to terms with the fact that God might be calling us away from our beautiful and ‘perfect’ life in Dallas. Then we began to realize that it was the very blessings that HE had given to us that we were holding so tightly that we could not hear Him calling us to go.”
There is so much truth in that statement. Often, the “things” that we are blessed with become hindrances to our letting go and following God in faith, beyond what is safe.
We pray that God will speak to your hearts and minds and draw you ever closer to HIM. May you be faithful to the journey and blessed along the way.
WE HAVE AN APPEAL!!
Veronica truly desires to return to the US to study music and obtain a master’s degree. It has become extremely difficult for Russians to obtain visas to come to the US, especially work or study visas. She must have a host family and prove that she has been accepted into a program. She would have no trouble being accepted into a program (we heard her play!) but she needs a family who will give her a place to live. Please pray and consider whether you might be that family. It’s not an adoption!...just hospitality for a season! You will love Veronica. She would like to work and pay her own way so you need not worry about expenses. Let us know if you, or someone you know, might consider bringing her to the States to study. Thanks!
We will have so many stories to tell when we return. Today, I want to tell you about Veronica and her family.
Veronica is a 20 year old young woman whom we met in Penza. She lives in a three-room (one bedroom, living room, and kitchen) flat with her parents. Veronica had a younger brother who died a year ago. While we were in Penza, she helped us with translations and visited us regularly, helping the girls and us with questions and general information.
Veronica is a music student at the local university. She studied for over a year in the United States, and had secured a scholarship to UTA in Arlington, Texas, intending to pursue her degree in music. However, following 9/11 she, like many others “visiting” the US, lost her tourist visa due to heightened security restrictions.
Veronica studies at the local university and teaches music (piano mostly) to earn an income to support her family. Her parents, like many adults living in Penza, are without a steady income. Her father works “odd jobs” and plays his saxophone on the streets in Penza at night. Her mother works doing various domestic tasks to support her family (she did our laundry while in Penza). Scott wondered why it took 48 hours for about two loads of laundry. He hadn’t realized that she had no washer or dryer. All of our clothing were washed by hand, hung to dry, and then ironed. She ironed everything…and I mean EVERYTHING! She even did small repairs (buttons, small tears, etc) without prompting.
We were humbled by the gracious hospitality and generosity of people to whom life has given so little. Scripture says that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. When we walk amongst friends who live in such stark contrast to us, this truth is even more telling. These people were ready to offer (and often did) anything they owned to meet our “needs.” So often we, in
America, give what we can no longer use, have little need for, or can replace with ease. The Kingdom of God comes to us in the face of the widow who gives her last coins, the woman pouring out precious oil on the dirty, road-weary feet of Christ, and in the faces of children, forgotten and alone. Jesus says what we do to the least of these, we do to Him.
We have been reminded again and again on this journey that God is about the business of reconciliation, restitution, and justice…that He is a God of mercy who requires nothing less of us. “He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you. But to DO justice, to LOVE mercy, and to walk humbly with your GOD.” Micah 6.8
We recently watched a video at church (Grace Fellowship UMC, Katy) about a family called to the mission field. They were/are a prominent, wealthy family in Dallas. One statement that they made has really pierced our hearts. They talked about how they came to realize that God was calling them to the mission field, and what held them back. They said something like this…
“It was hard to come to terms with the fact that God might be calling us away from our beautiful and ‘perfect’ life in Dallas. Then we began to realize that it was the very blessings that HE had given to us that we were holding so tightly that we could not hear Him calling us to go.”
There is so much truth in that statement. Often, the “things” that we are blessed with become hindrances to our letting go and following God in faith, beyond what is safe.
We pray that God will speak to your hearts and minds and draw you ever closer to HIM. May you be faithful to the journey and blessed along the way.
WE HAVE AN APPEAL!!
Veronica truly desires to return to the US to study music and obtain a master’s degree. It has become extremely difficult for Russians to obtain visas to come to the US, especially work or study visas. She must have a host family and prove that she has been accepted into a program. She would have no trouble being accepted into a program (we heard her play!) but she needs a family who will give her a place to live. Please pray and consider whether you might be that family. It’s not an adoption!...just hospitality for a season! You will love Veronica. She would like to work and pay her own way so you need not worry about expenses. Let us know if you, or someone you know, might consider bringing her to the States to study. Thanks!
posted by Pastor Glen Haworth | 9:44 AM
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