November Newsletter - Kristen in Slovakia

November Newsletter
As I opened up the November topic for discussion in my e-mail, I read that I was supposed to talk about "Missions in the Midst of Politics." Those of you who know me well could probably hear my groan all the way in America. I will happily talk about religion all day, but politics is definitely not my forte. However, the focus points that came with it, "Where is God in our world? Where is God in the midst of suffering, injustice, hunger, poverty, war, racism, death, illness, and aging? Is God still speaking? And how?," definitely hit closer to home. So it is these, rather than the broader topic of politics that I would like to discuss.
So where is God in the midst of all the suffering and injustice in this world? I have to say that the only answer that satisfies me is that God is right here, with the people who are suffering. I don't think He could be a loving God if He weren't. God sent His son, Jesus, to live and suffer in this world. God didn't chose to be aloof or detached from this fallen world, but to send His son right in the midst of it all. One of the most moving verses in the Bible for me is the simple, "Jesus wept," John 11:35, concerning the death of Lazarus. Jesus was fully divine, but He was also, at the same time, fully human. He took part in the sufferings in earth that we may have eternal life in heaven, a place that is perfect - free from all injustice and suffering.
These boys are no strangers to injustice, suffering, poverty, hunger, racism, death, illness, and much more. They have witnessed much more of it in their lives, than I ever will understand. Yet, my host mom still shares some of their stories with me. She wants me to be able to understand, at least a little, why they act the way they do and have the problems they have.
She shares with me how many of them have parents who are alcoholics, who simply kicked them out of the house to fend for themselves when they were fourteen or fifteen. She told me about one of the boys who desired (she knows that I know the word for want, but she purposely looked up the word desired in my dictionary to emphasize how much he truly wants this) so much to go and live with his mom. He keeps trying to go back to her and every time she tells him that she would rather be with her boyfriend, locking him out of the house at night in the middle of winter. Another boy is training to be a nurse in the hospital, a huge feat here for these boys. Most of them work construction, many having gone to special schools, or even no school at all. However, this boy is having problems with his co-workers simply because he is Roma gypsy and they don't trust him because of that. He is the first gypsy to work in that hospital (or at least that section of it), but he already wants to quit because of the way he is treated. These boys have problems with working, with money, with addictions, with wanting attention and not knowing how to get it in a positive way, and so on.
Sometimes this work with these boys seems so overwhelming. It is a job where there is a lot of long hours and hard work for my host family and the other workers to take care of the boys - to make sure everything is done and the boys are staying out of trouble. It is also a job where it is hard to see the results of all the hard work. And I admit that it makes me wonder sometimes what I am doing here. How can I possibly make a difference when I can barely even talk to them?
This segues into something that I wrote in my journal a couple of weeks ago. I changed it a little bit in order that it may pertain better to all of you, but the majority of it is still the same.
As I examine my role here in this community, I marvel at how hard it is sometimes to do the simplest things that are needed. Why is it hard sometimes to reach out to one of the boys when I am having a hard day? To share what I have, trusting that God will always provide? And perhaps you can relate as well. Why is it so hard to seek out entertaining those who have the least in society, for in doing so we may entertain angels? To take time out of our busy lives to visit the sick, the elderly, the dying, those who are lonely? To see the face of Christ in everyone whom we encounter? These things seem hard at first glance, so overwhelming, because we know that we alone cannot change the world. But every small action that we do has an effect that is felt further than we can know. Our small acts of love carry the Gospel further than we realize. We need to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and trust His work.
I realize here that it is the small acts of love that mean so much to me – penguin kisses from three-year-old Noelik, my host mom pausing in her cooking to look up a word in my dictionary so we can continue our conversation, one of the boys trying to talk to me or include me, my host sister Sarka asking me to draw with her, Bible study by candlelight around my host family's kitchen table, and that was all just in the last week. There are small acts of love everywhere here and I need to stop and appreciate them for what they are – Christ taking the time to show His love, unending and enduring for all time, through the actions of those who love Him and do His will. I pray that I, as well as all of you, will take the time to show the love of Christ to everyone we encounter, friend and stranger - not being afraid to reach out of our comfort zones to those in need. For it is through these small actions that we can make a difference.
It is through these small actions that I can make a difference to these boys. I don't need to have some amazing talent or speaking ability to share God with them. Even if I can hardly talk to them in Slovak, I can still smile and ask them how they are doing. I can take the time to show them Christ's love for them, reminding them that no matter what they are going through, God is always with them.
A quotation from John R.W. Stott sums this up this question of suffering quite nicely. "The God who allows us to suffer, once suffered himself in Christ, and continues to suffer with us and for us today. The cross of Christ is proof of God's personal, loving solidarity with us in our pain." God is with us in the suffering of this world. And He is still speaking through the acts of love shown by His followers everywhere.
Wow that ended up being really long! Kudos to everyone who read all of it. As always, I enjoy hearing feedback from all of you. Please tell me what you think – what you agree or disagree with, any further thoughts this provoked, any personal examples, etc. And of course I would enjoy hearing what is going on in all of your lives as well. If you know anyone else who would like to receive this newsletter (or if I lost anyone with my copy and pasting!) please let me know and I will add them to my list.