Thankful for glimpses of the Kingdom

"Peter said to him, 'We have left all we had to follow you!' 'I tell you the truth,' Jesus said to them, 'no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.'" Luke 18:28-30.

David Brooks of the New York Times wrote an Op-Ed piece on August 22, 2011 (see the blog side-bar for a link) titled "The Rugged Altruist". It is a really interesting piece but begins with the disturbing statement, "Many American go to the developing world to serve others. A smaller percentage actually end up being useful." He then goes on to explain that the successful ones develop three virtues as they serve - courage, deference (willingness to listen and learn), and thankfulness. Without these he suggests, one tends to become cynical and perhaps even part of the problem. He also concludes that if one reaches the stage of thankfulness the service becomes a spiritual experience.

I don't know Mr. Brooks' spiritual background or perspective, but I think he is on to something. As a follower of Christ I would add to the list the ability to see God's kingdom as it unfolds here on earth (my interpretation of receiving many times as much in this age - an answer to the oft prayed, "Thy kingdom come..."), but perhaps that is simply another way of saying thankfulness.

For me this is one of the most encouraging parts about being here in Zambia - seeing God's hand in all we are doing, sensing His kingdom is come, being thankful. Let me share some of the amazing ways I have seen God's hand so far:

There were several problems in my hiring and paperwork in Atlanta and I am still sorting them out. Basically they have been unwilling to consider Miriam a dependent due to her age. I have been patiently working through the system but it does not seem that we have an advocate in Atlanta. Having said that, I just learned that the new manager of my activities will be a woman I helped early in her career in Chicago, a person I count as a friend. She had already sent me an email welcoming me to Africa in August. So I feel as if God has decided to move her to Atlanta in December, possibly to be our advocate!

Upon my arrival in Zambia I was tasked with working across agencies (CDC and USAID) on a project to address maternal mortality. It seems that in general CDC and USAID have not always worked well together. Possibly because we all tend to spend far too much energy worrying about who gets credit. In any event, the lead person at USAID who I am working with is also new to Zambia. As we chatted during our recent trip to Kalomo (picture is of unfinished district hospital operating room) we realized we had crossed paths some 20 years ago in Bolivia, it had been a very positive experience, and we share many mutual friends. Our working relationship immediately began on a positive note!

There are almost too many such "coincidences" to even name - many of my co-workers are believers and have expressed interest in an office Bible study, the CDC country directors in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe are friends of ours from the past, during the recent visit of Lois Quam (Executive Director of the Global Health Initiative) we got to talking about the role of faith communities and she shared that she was a preachers kid, which moved our conversation to another level, I was asked to host a visit by Bread for the World and found many mutual friends among the group - from Lawndale, from the PCUSA, etc.

I feel that we had the courage as a family to step out, Amy and I tend to be deferential by nature (okay maybe just a little), and now I am so thankful for the many ways God has prepared a path for us.

Please pray specifically for: our search for a church home, the possibility of a Bible study at work, seminary teaching (I preach there on October 28th), Ruth's application to work at the US Embassy part time in communications, Amy's language class and her upcoming travel to Rwanda and Houston, Miriam's volunteer activities, John's college applications (tricky coordinating two schools across continents) and upcoming trip to South Africa for volleyball, and Chris' developing of good friendships. Oh, we still need our cars to arrive, our household goods, and our permanent house to be ready, but I am thankful that God has already taken care of these things in His good time.