Author: Mari Walker

Faith Stories: Praise in the Midst of Trials

The crowd joined in the attacks against Paul and Silas, so the authorities ordered that they be stripped of their clothes and beaten with a rod. When Paul and Silas had been severely beaten, the authorities threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to secure them with great care. When he received these instructions, he threw them into the innermost cell and secured their feet in stocks. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. — Acts 16: 22-25 (Common English Bible)

One day recently, I crashed the church website after it was hacked. Without getting technical, I basically wiped out all of the design so nothing looked right. And I didn’t immediately know how to fix it.

To say I was stressed was an understatement. I also had toddler Jane needing attention when all I wanted to do was focus on the problem, stare at my computer and FIX IT!

Instead we went to the park, and when we were back I tried something new. I fixed one problem – success! – but introduced another.

The day continued this way, and I was so upset and unhappy about the whole situation. Eventually I got the site in a stable state and hopefully safe from another attack.

At Bible study that night the lesson was on Acts 16, including the story of Paul and Silas in jail with their feet secured in stocks. The leader explained how the stocks were likely devices that kept their legs locked in a spread out position putting great pressure on their hips and causing immense pain, on top of the beatings they had already received. They didn’t know if they would face death in the morning or what was next. So at midnight what were they doing?

Praying and singing hymns! And the other prisoners listened.

In the midst of tremendous suffering they sang and prayed. Shouldn’t I, then, attempt to sing and pray when doing something I love in service of the church, even when it is stressful or annoying? I’m trying to approach my website service with this new attitude.

Mari Walker

Faith Stories: Appalachian Service Project

As a follow-up to Andrew’s faith story last week about his experience participating in this summer’s Appalachian Service Project mission, others who participated share this week.

Judy

Having had my last child move out recently, I realized that I did not know many of the current youth at St. John’s. I volunteered to go with the youth on mission with the Appalachian Service Project. In addition to showing my faith through works, I had a goal to get to know the youth of the church better. What a glorious blessing I received by joining them on the ASP mission. We spent a week helping people in need in Boone, North Carolina. Through work, play and devotionals, we got to know each other and were blessed with an enriching experience. We served wonderful families whose faith and friendliness touched our hearts. When we go on mission, we go forth to help others but find that Christ is there to help us-to become more spiritually mature and faithful.

Andree’

I’m glad I got to go on this ASP mission trip. We all got to meet many different people from different states and experienced cultural difference. I enjoyed working with everyone and we were able to finish without much problem. ASP was a great experience and got us out of our comfort zone.

Will

ASP was one of the most eye opening experiences I have ever been through. It was truly remarkable to see the lives of some of the families we worked with and the immense struggles they consider day to day tasks. The Appalachian Service Project was a remarkable journey that I’ll hopefully be able to make again in the future.

Catherine

The family that we were able to serve was so loving and welcoming.  We had so many conversations with them, and we bonded with every member of the family.  You could see in each of their eyes how much we meant to them.

Tori

I saw God in the grandmother of the people whose house we worked on.  We just randomly showed up without giving her much of a heads up.  She was thrilled to have us though.  She showed us her chickens and pigs (which we got to chase).

Elizabeth

ASP was an incredible experience. We helped our families through hard work and smiles. We all had an amazing time and grew closer to each other and new friends were met.

Kyle
I saw God in the lady we helped working with us every day and making us baked goods as we built her a porch.

Carsten

It hardly felt like volunteer work; we were given so much in return by the family we helped…stories, brilliant music and friendship. I’m so happy to have met them.

Colin

My time spent on ASP broadened my view of the world we live in and the hardships people face. ASP also helped me experience different ways in which I can be beneficial to my community.

Luke

This ASP I got to hang out with some of my long-time friends and basically joked around the entire trip while doing good for strangers, which was rewarding. We were able to accomplish our goal, and thinking about where we started out from to the final end product made it seem all the more worth our hard work and effort.

Amber

Thank you to everyone that made this latest mission to Appalachia Service Project possible!  It was such an amazing experience to share with these youth.  There were 14 of us that traveled by van, singing wild 80s songs, writing thoughts on clipboards for Andrew and sleeping…lots of sleeping.  We were housed in an elementary school that had a fantastic park/playground that served as the gathering center for all of the youth groups that came.  The kids bonded through playing on the jungle gym, games in the field like ultimate Frisbee and football. 

Your youth were very accepting and absolutely wonderful at meeting other kids from all over the country!  Be proud of how hard they worked and how beautifully they fellowshipped with the families they served as well.  It was a blessing to watch and serve alongside them running away from bees, digging drainage ditches and forming assembly lines to make sure we can do all that we can, as well as we can.  One of my favorite kids to watch was Will.  We were in the same group working on roofing and ditch digging.  Every time something was needed, he was ready to respond. He worked hard and never complained but rather stayed around until things were wrapped up. That week was so much fun for me to watch and experience!  

Thank you again for helping me get there and helping get the youth there as well as all of the prayers that were so incredibly helpful!

Faith Stories: Radical Reversal

2 Corinthians 5:17
So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived!

Our ASP (Appalachia Service Project) youth mission trip was an adventure like no other. I prepared for the trip for nearly a year but never really expected to get anything out of it other than some good bonding time with the youth. It actually frightened me a little when I heard that the theme for the week would be “radical reversal.” We made it to Boone, North Carolina, where we slept on air mattresses, showered in cold make-shift showers, ate mediocre food at best, and the devotions and worship were merely worshipless. However, we did a fine job of completing our work, making friends, and we made it home where we told our parents of the amazing trip we had, all of the laughs and all of the interesting things we had encountered on the trip.

It didn’t take long for me to recover from my non-stop week at ASP. I was up and ready to be back at church working on the St. John’s Youth Ministry with a passion in my heart that I had not seen in quite some time. Others in the office might have thought that I had been taking energy pills or something to that effect from the nature of my determination to really get some things done that first week back. I have a close group of friends who were ecstatic about my return. They wanted to go to dinner and had other activities planned all week after I got back. However, something inside of me was holding me back. I would tell them different things like, “I’m just going to stay at home tonight,” or “I really want to finish my book.” They began getting frustrated with my responses so I began to think about why it was that I wasn’t really interested in hanging out with them.

I quickly realized it was my experience at ASP. I was radically reversed by the Spirit of those around me the whole week. The spirit in our youth who were such hard workers, the spirit of the volunteers who brought us and wanted to spend time and get to know us, and the homes we served where, I think everyone on the trip would agree, they ended up serving us. I was reversed by the family that in my world had so little–little money, little food, little education, so, so little. But, they had the Spirit and they let you know it. They sang spiritual songs, adorned their home with scripture and prayed with might. I came home not knowing that I had caught the Spirit that was present in those around me the week before. Our youth had lit the fire for me to do a better job at what I do each day in our Youth Ministry, and the families we served had lit the fire for me to lead a simpler lifestyle. It was truly a radical reversal.

I encourage each of you to think about taking a mission trip experience. Perhaps consider joining the youth of St. John’s one year! You never know what will happen!

God, thank you for the Appalachia Service Project and for my St. John’s family. May we each find radical reversal in our life because of Your name. Amen.

Andrew Blackwood
Youth Coordinator

Faith Stories: The Blessing Will Always Remain

When I looked down and saw my foot descending just beyond the edge of the concrete step, I had time for one quick thought. “You’re not going to fall!” I said to myself and then I fell. It was a long flight of steps and before landing at the bottom I managed to strike some part of my body against each one. The director of the Bareilly Baby Fold where our India mission team was staying heard a cry and quickly came out of her office to see what had happened. She helped me up and I walked gingerly into the dining room, where we had just had breakfast. The other team members came running. They brought ice for my rapidly swelling forehead and Advil for my pain. For a few minutes it seemed that, with a few bandages for elbow and knee, I would be able to go out to the work site and paint. But then the real pain began. On the left side of my body a massive hematoma was forming. Simply put, I had never experienced such piercing, agonizing pain before. We all agreed I needed hospital care.

Fortunately, the Clara Swain Hospital, founded in the nineteenth century by Methodist missionaries, sits next to the Baby Fold. A small ambulance, hastily summoned, carried me and the team leader to the hospital in a matter of minutes. I was quickly admitted and by early afternoon, I had x-ray, CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, and EKG testing completed and I was resting in a private room.

This was a time of great physical suffering for me but it was a time when I felt truly blessed. Being a fairly independent character, I am not used to being taken care of. Now I was in a situation where I was unable to manage for myself, and I found myself surrounded by signs of God’s love and care. The doctors provided excellent medical treatment. Although for the most part we shared neither language nor culture, the hospital staff was conscientious and caring. The Baby Fold cook sent special meals. Mission team members took turns keeping me company each day and kept me up to date on events with the Bible school and paint project. A few of the older boys from the Baby Fold spent nights in my room making sure I was comfortable; they were all excellent caregivers. In everyone I have mentioned I saw the face of Jesus, our servant master, and felt his love.

Miraculously, none of my injuries were serious. After three days I was able to rejoin the team. The work project had been completed but a few days of touring lay ahead before the flight home. Now, the pain and memory of the pain have faded. The blessing will always remain.

Guy Johnson

Faith Stories: A New Outlook on Life

I usually do my grocery shopping at Winn-Dixie, but this day I decided to shop at Wal-Mart. As I shopped, I noticed that I kept crossing paths with a modest, but nicely groomed middle-aged man wearing a dress shirt, tie, and khaki pants. Upon walking near him again in the meat department, he spoke to me, saying “Hey, how are you doing?” He said I looked familiar but couldn’t figure out how he knew me. I had realized he’d been a client at the Shepherd’s Market and told him that’s where he’d seen me.

I remembered him because we had talked when he came to the pantry a few times over several months. He had struck me as a nice guy and I remember us talking about our common experience raising boys. At that time, this man had been going through rough times: a failed marriage, losing his job and trying to raise a teenager. He had told me it was the lowest place in his life so far.

But now, as I talked to him in Wal-Mart, he looked great and had a new outlook on life. He told me how he’d gotten a good job and thanked me and the Shepherd’s Market for being so kind and helpful in a dark time of his life. He said that dark place was even more noticeable once he had come out of it to the other side. Then he exclaimed, “Look, I’m buying my own groceries!” What a privilege to be God’s hands and feet walking with a fellow child of God through the rough places and then to see the light on the other side.

Deirdre’ Halliburton

Faith Stories: Carpe Diem, Carpe DEUM!

In my Latin classes at Southeastern Louisiana University, I try earnestly to make this dead, ancient language relevant to the lives of my students. The English language is filled with smatterings of phrases that come to us directly from the Latin, and educated people are generally expected to have at least an acquaintance with the meaning of the terms. 

Just think briefly about legal terms we hear daily, as well as literary terms that swim around our pages and conversations. We form ad hoc committees, had a mayor pro tem, tour ante bellum homes, read of pleas of nolo contendere and writs of habeas corpus, have cum laude graduates, and pros and cons and even non sequiturs during debates. I could go on ad infinitum. But I won’t! So it is my habit when introducing a new term or phrase to ask the students if they know it or can place it in some context.

One day I put “carpe diem” on the blackboard. Carpe diem translates “seize the day.” It is a phrase from a work by the venerated Latin poet Horace, in which he is pleading with his readers to take advantage of each day, to live one day at a time, to make the most of the time we are given. A modern rephrasing might be: “today is the first day of the rest of your life.” Carpe diem is very often found on sun dials, to remind us of the transient nature of time itself.

Anyway, one student very hesitantly raised his hand and with a question in his voice translated “seize God?” Admittedly, the Latin for day and god are somewhat similar – diem and deum. I could easily see the source of the student’s error. But I stood dumbfounded for a few seconds thinking how profound that mistranslated thought was and how very much I liked it.

Carpe diem! Indeed, we need to live each day of our lives fully, for that is all we have. Tomorrow is never promised. And for followers of Christ, living fully means living out our savior’s love in every possible moment. Life itself often gets in the way of living fully in the awareness of God’s love and care. Illness, grief, loss of a job, problems in a relationship, financial concerns — all of these worries can consume our thoughts, dominate our days and steal our nights. These worries rob us of the peace that Christ offers. 

In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us “…do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.” When we worry and fret, we often miss the blessings and glimpses of light that come our way because our focus is on our problems.

God has plans for us. At the right moment, we will burst into a new situation, a new possibility, a new hope. In the meantime, I am going to practice that carpe diem idea — seize the day — but I’m also going to follow my student’s unintended mistake that has become such a blessing. I plan to practice carpe Deum as well — take hold of God as I wait patiently and attentively for the next chapter in my life. I know it will come. God is always up to something!

Prayer: God of all our days and nights, all we have for certain is this day. Give us the wisdom to live it with enthusiasm and joy in service to you. Amen.

Betty Schroeder

Faith Stories: Pray Without Ceasing

While working in the yard, I heard the yardman next door raking and humming. I opened the gate and asked Wesley, a special name to a Methodist like me, what he was doing. He answered that he was praying and that he loved to pray.

I was a bit taken back but answered, “Well, the Bible says to pray without ceasing.” We both went back to what we were doing, but I pondered on what he did not say. He did not say he was praying while he worked or working while he prayed. He simply said he was praying. That was what was important.

His humming changed to singing the words, “Praise God” over and over. For the next couple of hours, I avoided using power tools so I could hear him and quietly join in his adoration. Finally, he yelled over the fence asking if I needed any help. I told him no thanks, but I thought to myself how much he had already helped me by reminding me of the words I had read earlier in the week in Celebration of Discipline. Richard J. Foster wrote, “…we have not worshiped the Lord until Spirit touches spirit.”

Jane Crowl

Faith Stories: Choosing Kindness

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression … and spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise [and shine] in the darkness … then you will find your joy in the Lord.” (Isaiah 58:10&14)

His hands were so dirty and his clothes were soiled. He had come for food; I had come to serve in the pantry. He was hungry and beat down. He wouldn’t even look me in the eye. He spoke very softly; he was obviously uncomfortable.

As I sat with him, doing the necessary paperwork and letting him drink some coffee and eat a few snacks, I watched his hands … and I listened.

He told me about his three children. He told me that he was homeless. He told me of a harrowing experience on his bike that scared him and left him injured. And he told me that he did not want to go to the shelter downtown. I only mentioned the shelter because he said that he needed $7 so that he could pick up a prescription. I knew that he could get assistance at the shelter downtown. But I also somehow knew that he wouldn’t go.

He said that he really liked coming to the Shepherd’s Market. He appreciates the company, the coffee, the snacks, a place to sit and the food. He especially likes picking a treat for his kids, just in case he gets to see them.

As I watched him eat a second plate of snacks with his dirty hands, I made a decision that I should try to do this man a small favor … a random act of kindness. I found my wallet and looked inside. I had exactly $7 in cash. Amazing coincidence? I don’t think so. 

I quietly gave the man the cash so he could buy his medicine. And then it happened: he gave me a gift, too.

He looked me in the eye, with tears in his eyes, and smiled. He touched my hand with his hands and said, “God bless you.”

It’s funny how I no longer noticed the dirt on his hands. I chose to be kind in that moment and God demonstrated His love through a simple healing touch, bringing me great joy.

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to see the needs of those around me. Let me spread kind words and show your love through deeds of kindness for those who need your healing touch. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Theresa Sandifer

Faith Stories: Where God Wants Me to Be

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and I will answer you. You will search for me and find me, when you search for me with all of your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-­13

Almost every day I would pass by St. John’s UMC. I could be on my way to work, shopping, or running errands. Each time I passed by, I would hear the voice of God saying to me, “Here is where I want you to be.” My reply was, “One day, Lord, I will visit but I can’t leave my church. I have so much to do there. I sing in the choir (as if they really need me). I’m the Children’s Coordinator, I teach Sunday School (ok, so what if Devin is the only child who shows up every Sunday) and I direct the youth choir (ok, ok a trio but they sound really good).” This went on for over a year! God telling me where I’m supposed to be and me giving excuses for my disobedience.

God gives us free will, and that’s good. When God tells us to do something and we disobey him, he won’t force us to do it. Instead, we experience the Jonah syndrome. God will allow us to be swallowed by a BIG FISH until we decide to obey his will. That’s what happened to me!

Every time I went to church it was a struggle. I didn’t want to go. (That was so out of character for me!) I couldn’t understand why I was feeling this way. It took Jonah three days to come to his senses. It took me a year to come to mine and thank God I did! When I finally decided to visit St. John’s, the peace and joy that I had been missing for over a year returned.

I know I’m where God wants me to be. Praise God!

Darlene Dickson

Faith Stories: The Unfriendly Neighbors

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. -Matthew 5: 43-45

The young professional couple that moved in next door kept very much to themselves. They rebuffed welcoming gestures not only by me but by the other neighbors as well. They turned away the vase of freshly cut flowers I delivered one day and told one neighbor who with her small child had come to pay a visit that they were not interested in being welcomed to the neighborhood.

The young man removed a bird feeder I had placed on a tree between our yards and in the middle of the night repositioned the trash can that I had placed at the edge of my driveway to the very center of the driveway because he thought it was on his grass. More actions, both subtle and overt, spoke of their closedness and their unwillingness to be a part of our friendly, family-oriented neighborhood.

I found myself thinking unkind thoughts as I looked at their house on my morning walks and knew that was not the response Christ would require. So, instead, I began praying for this couple each time I passed by their house or looked at it from my kitchen window. As the months passed and the prayers continued, I felt a change come over me!

My heart was filled with love for this lonely and isolated couple. I persisted in my overtures of friendship. Gradually, smiles were returned, waves exchanged, and then the shared experience of devastating Hurricane Gustav offered an opportunity to give caring assistance and neighborly aid. Because of the persistence of prayer, this couple has embraced and become an integral part of the neighborhood. Praise God!

Prayer: Loving God of all, help us to recognize all people as our brothers and sisters. Help us to pray, even when we have no idea what words to use. Amen.

Betty Schroeder