Remembering How to Hear

Electric Riverboat Angela Louise

Go and Do Likewise Hosts the Crittenton Kids

Once again the Holiday Season brought our annual party on Newport Bay with the young residents of Florence Crittenton Services in Fullerton. Our 14th year, and like most, the best so far. Music from our Music Man Sam Parsons, some stories, good food provided by Captain Rick and his crew. Smiles, laughs and fun was the theme and the girls enjoyed the evening. Captain Rick Garcia donates his boat, time and that of his crew for this special evening for our young guests. It is easy in our comfort to forget that life is not easy nor fun for many youth who have experienced abuse of some form in their lives.

This evening is our attempt to change that, at least for a day.

Blessed most of all were those aboard who sang along with and interacted

Above is a piece of our most recent newsletter. In times of reflection, the event and it's origin come to my mind as a remembrance of how easy it can be to miss the voice of the Lord. The story though is, I think, a thought to let sift through us. Life is busy and the time of the year during the Christmas season can be the most busy. My own understanding is that it is easier to miss the voice of the Spirit, that is the voice calling me, you , us out of the wilderness, when we are busy, frustrated or self absorbed in the many ways which manifest in us; all of these take my focus from time to time so the beginning of the Riverboat Night on the bay for the Kids in residence at Crittenton was exceptional in that I heard.

We first became involved with the KIDS through the 'help your neighbor' efforts of Go and Do Likewise. The circumstances of the Crittenton involvement is a story in itself. First though, how the party, how is it that this all began? I think it must have been in late November or early December of 1997 that we were painting a mobile home in Santa Ana. As was the usual case the girls of Crittenton showed up to 'help'. They certainly were as they did get some paint on the home but as was usual they got more on themselves. Even with water based paint it could be difficult to get out of clothes but they had great fun and laughed and worked to help others all of these were . . . good.

As with kids everywhere everyday is not necessarily a good or fun day. So it was with one young (about 11) yr old. She was sitting on the side porch step next to the carport of the home and was in tears, standing next to her was one of the Crittenton staff, who were always present and the most amazing collection of caring people imaginable. As she sat and cried, just as I walked by, I say this because I did not slow down, and did not want to interfere with the counseling going on, just as I was at the closest point of my path, I heard . . . . .from the counselor . . .what would you want if you were going to get something for Christmas? That is all I heard, that is what I could not get out of my mind. A simple statement from a counselor trying to find a way to comfort.

The following Friday our small prayer group met and consistent with our regular practice we prayed and talked and shared the week before. During this time I shared with the others, some of whom had been there the previous Saturday, what I had heard. More than that, I shared that I could not get this out of my mind. The tears, sobbing is maybe more accurate, the compassion of the counselor, the timing . . . .it was all too convenient . . .it would not go away. So one of the others said, "why don't we throw a party for them." Short story, we did; because of the short time of our interaction we had to bring it on campus to them. Even that took a bit of lobbying on the part of the lead staff. But, have a party we did. It was fun and the kids who could attend were singing and had gifts from us, it was a joyful event.

I guess this would be a good story if this was the end, but it is not. A year went by. We worked monthly and most of the time the girls helped out, but we did not even mention the issue or talk about it. Another prayer Friday, much the same group, a year later, as we sat the thought came, what about the girls and the party.

Some miracles may be more earth shattering, but miracle this was. Within about 10 days or so we had all the ingredients of a great party, including permission for the girls to leave the campus (a miracle in itself) donated clothes, and . . .most miraculously a special venue that we could not have imagined. Through a personal connection of one of the prayer regulars Capt Jack of the Electric Riverboat Angela Louise donated the use of his boat for a Saturday afternoon cruise on Newport bay. A highlight was watching the girls walk down the ramp to board the boat and hear so many comments that they had never been on the water let alone a boat such as this. The party went on with few if any hitches and was a huge success. So Started the Christmas Party on Newport Bay for the KIDS of Crittenton.

Two years we sailed on Saturday afternoon and then the Captain said, why don't we do this at night so they can see the lights. Frankly this was a huge step for the staff as the girls are all in secure facility and to get permission for a 'party at night' seemed too daunting, but it happened and so it began, night time on the Bay for the KIDS. It was only a couple, 2 or 3 years after that when we received a note from Captain Jack that he had sold the Angela Louise. He told the new owner about the party but we would have to talk to Captain Rick directly. So we did, and he said wonderful, and so we continue. Fourteen years of parties, fourteen years of watching young girls take an evening off from their difficult circumstance and laugh, sing and play.

Sometime I find this place and peace within that just flows, my eyes are widened that I might see and my ears are opened that I might hear. I know there have times when I missed the voice or the opportunity to hear. But, when i do hear and it is His voice and I am obedient to step out to 'just do it'; then the time, space and place are ripe for the miracle of real Joy to have its time. So for the last fourteen years; thank you Terry for never saying no, Captains Jack and Rick, thank you Angela Louise, thank you gift givers, thank you Sam and all the music makers, thank you Santa and helpers. Thank you staff and residents of the Crittenton campus but most of all, thank you Holy Spirit of God for your love and patience and great heart for these kids.

You have taught a great lesson on the potential of listening as we go through life. Listening as we go about our daily efforts and activities, listening even as we get so busy. I know it is listening that we have to learn, He speaks in many ways. It is not that we are not spoken to that the miracles elude us, it is that we are not listening.

The war is not over!

I am somewhat behind in the sharing of the warfare which I suggested in an earlier blog. My apologies, it is probably less edgy with the time in between, but this is not meant to be ‘edgy’, rather, a sharing of events which when looked at as a whole help, at least for me, to express or explain why we have such a difficult time making the transition from religious believers to committed disciples of One who was, is and is to be. I suggest it is the same for most of us, the challenge of worshiping our traditions, theologies and our doctrines; after all they explain the unexplainable and bring into focus that which cannot be seen. However I also suggest our God is none of these and all of these and more. Such is the sadness of religion; such is the majesty of Faith.

The beginning was and remains an attempt to share the arena of conflict within which this ‘battle’ took place. The second offering was to try and set some history of events which were directly related, in my opinion, to the actual events of overcoming darkness through God’s planned events which, I can assure you, were totally hid from my eyes and even experience, except as allowed for the time at hand. I can say that as the time to our departure grew near I did have a certain sense that in the events of the visit there were opportunities for new relationships of faith with in the already established church and called servants who had been a part of the landscape for some time. Admittedly I had no idea how this would take place; so even when Pastor Don Boger was added at a late time with a variety of unanswered questions as to any reality of his inclusion with this group, late passport, late seating and other distractions, which centered around an established relationship he had with a Pastor in Nairobi and his own certainty to meet his friend he had never met. The reality of what was being put in place was not evident to any of us.

It is a usual practice for the visiting group to participate in the worship of the church on the Sunday following our arrival. It was not however a regular situation for Pastor Kiefa to single out one individual, one whom he had not met except for a one hour conversation, to hold the pulpit for the entire service. I have complete confidence that Pastor Moseti Kiefa Ontiri is a man of God’s own calling and is sensitive in his own Spirit to the hand of greater authority in matters of Faith; that is he hears the Lords voice and is determined to follow. I was then more eager than surprised to see what the worship would hold as we prepared for our time together in the church.

It was evident as we began to pray the evening before Sunday worship that there was something about, there was a heightened sense of the Spirit, an awareness of a Purpose and a need for the Pastors to be set apart in prayer for this, even more than most times as we gather the night before worship. So Sunday morning, as is the regular practice, we are off to the church and the 2 to 3 hours we will spend in teaching, prayer, celebration, Word and worship. There are two times of bringing the word, one as a teaching and one as preaching the Word. Pastor Don had been asked to do both, this was very unusual. I can only say the teaching was anointed and the teacher, Pastor Don Boger carried a high visibility of that anointing. The word of teaching was powerful and at the end of the 45 minute session 30 people or more gathered to come forward and have prayer extended for their further dedication of Faith. This was quite extraordinary. After worship in song and prayer the Word was preached and another 45 min or so and another 30 to 40 people came forward to rededicate themselves to a life a faith. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was a very special day and one of great blessing. But the war had just begun.

Later that night we had calmed down and were sitting discussing the events planned for the next day, we reviewed some of the issues which had led to the events of the coming Monday; the many years during which the relationship with the local clinic had struggled, the issues of threats and lies being spread throughout the area with the church in the center. The times of great difficulty as the past clashed with a new vision and the issues of greed; economy, and jealousy; congregational impact, raised up in very real and tangible ways the difficulties facing cultural and traditional change. We prayed.

As the group centered more and more in prayer there seemed to be direction and the issues were brought up and petitions were raised for the concerns, the people involved and for the presence of the Holy Spirit of God to be directing the events. Prayer went up for the presence of the Heavenly warriors and for the safety and hedging of those involved. The gathering of the Pastors was lifted up, favor for the Pastors with us and the laying on of hands for Pastor Kiefa. It was in any respect a powerful time of calling upon the heavenly for the day ahead.

First evidence of the day was an invitation for Pastor Kiefa, Eaar Oden and myself to visit the clinic, the Pastor and his wife. These two were very gracious to us and welcomed us and for over an hour and a half conversation took place to clear up misunderstandings and to share perspectives as the talks continues there came a real peace and a definite acceptance and finally an agreement that each in the way God had called was indeed serving the Lord with the gifts and purpose of God alone. We left in such high spirits and with such thankfulness for what we had experienced and the witness given to us during this time of healing of these two ministries.

The day was not over yet, because of the length of our stay at the clinic we were an hour late for the Pastors conference. While here in America that would be the end of any gathering, in Africa it is part of the normal, they call it Africa time. Things happen in their own good time. As we arrived more came and shortly there were over 30 Pastors many of them very young, some seasoned and some recognized as local leaders. Introductions took place and a frank introduction of some of the difficulties which faced the church from within was spoken to as way of clearing the slate for the issue of the day. Then with about a 5 minute warning, Pastor Don Boger was asked to bring a word to the group and the word was unity.

What followed was the most, if I can use the word, electrifying sermon on the unity of the church and the purpose of the Body of the Risen Christ I could imagine. For an hour, more, less, time was not a real factor Pastor Don, went through Old Testament, New Testament, Gospel, Prophets, from every part of scripture the Word was preached on the unity of the church. It was anointed, it was purposed and it was powerful. The aftermath was equally wondrous. As each Pastor wishing to speak stood and expressed his sense for the day and the message given there was confirmation, confession, requests for help, open declaration of desire for this kind of unity and expressions of dedication, new dedication, for the church to be of one mind, lifting and upholding each brother called to the purpose of bringing the word. The differences of theology and doctrine were laid aside and the singular purpose of follow2ing the headship of Jesus of Nazareth as Lord was raised time and time again.

I was stunned by all this and then to top it off, one of the leaders, and you could tell he was a leader, stood and talked for some time, he related what they all knew and the need for the changes spoken to and then he added what was to me a most amazing anecdote. He reminded the gathered Pastors that this word had been brought to them in 2005; he said ‘do you remember my brothers, in 2005, at a gathering in Kisii town, we were brought this exact same word and we have not been obedient to that call’. He confirmed the Word Don had spoken as coming from the Lord a second time.

Pastor Don, who had his own agenda for going, who almost missed the trip altogether and who was not in the least given time to do research and preparations, let alone hours or days, brought a word of Unity to the churches in the area that they had earlier been given and had not followed; and they recognized their error and there was a repentance of agreement among them.

I should not be surprised, or intrigued, or at all amazed. From the early days of Go and Do Likewise we have continually been exposed to the simple fact that we do not know what our God is purposed to do with us today or through us today or tomorrow. We have not only no idea but no right to place upon His path or purpose our own agenda or plan. It is for Him and Him alone to guide the events of His people.

I tell you truthfully, the best seat on the bike for us is the one in the back.

History helps clarify, I hope

For you who have read the previous entry concerning Spiritual warfare, I must apologize in advance; this is another piece of history. Not because I want to drag this out, although the thought has occurred to me and I find it somewhat appealing. Perhaps someone will read three of these discourses, but, not, I admit because I am clever, rather because there is in us an understanding that God does not always ‘just show up’ on the spur of the moment as if He has nothing better to do at that time and is wandering about looking for ‘action’.

The reason to take the time to share the history and the events which define the miraculous is just the opposite. Our God is not an accidental God happening upon a situation and serving up helpings of urgent mercy, although He certainly can do that, all the time. Rather, I think, God is about laying out a purpose and a plan for the life experience of His own and the end is never in our sight. We are allowed to see today and today alone, even though one of our greatest delights is implanting our idea of the future affect of God’s presence, we are hardly ever even close to what is the fullness of life He has in store for our path. So I ask you to relax and allow for the history to become the important part of the outcome that it, in truth, is.

In the Book of Acts there is an issue, type, context of conflict which challenges the church over and over. One the one hand we have the religious authority, and the other the economic interest of the location wherein Paul finds himself. Neither one has much use for this upstart and somewhat fringe ‘cult’ leader who is turning the heads of the people, challenging the comfortable means by which the community has found to co-exist and in general, disturbing the peace. It is a plight which has been and may well be forever in the daily process of the church being “One Body”. If you look close, you can see it today, in every community and every theological expression of God as doctrine or tradition.

What in the world has this to do with anything I have said to this point?

In 2008, shortly after returning to the U.S.A., I received my first, of what has been many, contacts declaring the un-mistaken trickery and fraud of the people of the village and the leadership specifically. I can, or will, not expound on each but to say they have all had certain aspects of similarity. The first of anything seems to be the most memorable so I will share some of the detail. Because of the addition of one of the other Pastors in the area on our web site a certain individual from the NE section of the US contacted me and expounded on the personal failures of both men involved, even to declaring they were one and the same man and the facilities and people involved in their ministry were, in fact, the same people. I had independently met each of these two men and their respective locations are not conducive to close interchange of people and in fact this was, in itself, an untruth. As I dug a bit further I found that the Pastor in Kenya had accepted money for his church and ministry from this man even though the man had demanded strict adherence to a “truth” that they were alone the true remnant of the church and they alone held the certainty of eternal life and any teaching otherwise was heresy. The motive for the contact with me was not one of peace and working in concert for a greater good but rather a warning against these men and their scheme, upon viewing the web site of this man I discovered that the certainty of eternal life rested in this man and his doctrine alone. Ooops!

It was true that the Pastor had accepted money for the ongoing work of the church; he repented, asked for forgiveness, and rededicated himself to Jesus Christ as Lord of all. Since that time I have received many email notes, all complaining, until confronted with known facts and then pleading mercy or just disappearing. Africa sees a white face as one having money and any tactic is fare game to get some of it. It is a reality and we should not be naive nor reluctant to work within this fact of the outcome of aide. (in my opinion). This idea was best identified by the village elders who wanted the blessing for themselves and said “remember charity begins at home”, which was a nice way to say ‘we want our portion first’. Some were not so subtle, I received one complaining of the fact the children were being helped with school and doing community projects, the women were receiving training on better farming and micro businesses, yet the men had received nothing. This person asked, what are you going to do for the men? Not important to this person was the fact that the men had yet to embrace their part as equal participants in the effort.

During the time of email notes, as we worked to find the sources, it became more and more apparent that the church in the local community was not an innocent bystander in the determination to discredit. Names, persons, connections and associations with real persons brought to light that the attempts to discredit were not only economically motivated but also in some instances were motivated by jealousy over congregational growth and community actions. Even doctrine reared it separatist head. Possibly most notable of this ilk, other than the fore mentioned man who alone had the true doctrine, was the ongoing difficulty of interaction between a clinic established by a European mission and the local community. 2010 was a year that saw this conflict reach such an intensity that Go and Do Likewise was drawn into the interaction, or lack of it, as more allegations and misleading information was spread. So as we headed into the final months of 2010 and neared the spring visit to the village conversation grew concerning the need to interact on a face to face basis. During this time tentative invitations were presented to the clinic leadership and to the greater group of Pastors. Even in the days immediately preceding the arrival of the travelers on April 2, 2011 in the village, even though we had confirmation of a "Pastors Conference" to be held and high hope for a meeting with the European Pastor we had no clear view of what lay ahead. In retrospect the late addition and the difficulties of the inclusion of Pastor Don plead clear evidence that something was up, but until the issue on departure day, no insight into the level of Spiritual significance was forth coming from any of us.

There now, in short form, is some relevant history. There is more, some too personal and specific to other persons, which might deepen the view of a war in progress. Personally, I am not surprised or amazed that this was war and am also not naïve enough to think that it is over. The events of the days of our stay and the times, subject and power of the prayer given up as the group prepared for each day is the testimony to the significance of those events and the importance of the days and months ahead.

This is not the end, more to come

We are children of the Most High God and He will and has conquered,

Be blessed

Was it really Spiritual Warfare

Have you ever wondered what Spiritual warfare looks like in the natural? We speak of it and use some reference of understanding but how many times can we describe it in real terms and real times in specific ways other than wars or calamities of personal degradation. I think we sometimes have the opportunity to witness a battle and see also what the war was about, seldom, perhaps, but never the less, it does happen.

If we say as Christians that very little or nothing is pure circumstance then as circumstance grows into epic proportions we have to allow for there to be connection and some purpose. Otherwise we are trying but cannot hold ‘both and’ or ‘choice by perception’ perspectives. In this understanding I present to you a story of our most recent trip to Kenya and the greater village area of Sengera location. You decide what you believe.

Without a doubt my view is somewhat filtered by my involvement so there is an awareness in me of situations which certainly exacerbated the confusion leading up to the initial realization that “something was wrong”. Too much time on these may change the focus to the errors of any individual failure, but, it is necessary to allow that even in times of our personal failure, God, who knows all and is timeless in His plan, is ‘more than able’ and is above all.

It is part of the nature of a group traveling that there will be change. So not unusual is the need to be flexible and work within that change. This trip however there was more than the usual amount. Persons who were going, decided they could not, early on and later on, so the information zipping around is or was confusing. Add to this late or last minute additions, complicated by the need for documentation not yet available, and the potential grows for mistakes.

Having gone through all this change the day finally came for departure. The late addition was a Pastor, he had believed he was to go yet the funding came in late as did his passport, adding to the potential for problem. Never the less we arrived at the International terminal in Los Angeles in high spirits and ready for our African adventure. It was the Pastor who was the last to arrive, for reasons beyond his control and he arrived late but still in time for a late check in and off to the gate through security. I met him on the street and hurried him to the check in where all seemed good . . .until . . . until the gate attendant told us he had missed his flight and all his itinerary was cancelled and we would have to get new ticketing through our travel agent, who, by the way, was in NY. This was absolutely unbelievable, unacceptable, inconceivable yet unfortunately the fact. Somehow in the urgency of last minute change the booking agent had changed the flight assignment for this Pastor, I stood there facing the Pastor and apologized for the situation and told him he would stay behind, the plane was loading with less than an hour to departure. Horrifying!! Embarrassing!! Humiliating!! Heart Breaking!!!

But God was in charge and He had already cleared a path which by faith and obedience, if followed, would accomplish His plan.

I arrived in the gate area and notified the other travelers, who are friends of the Pastor, of the terrible news. After just a minute of upset one traveler, I will call him the producer, brought his new hand held computer and began looking up other flight options. Three things here need to be noticed: First we were looking at a final destination which was half way around the world, second our arrival at the final destination had to be close in time proximity because of further travel time by vehicle to the final location of the village, third the Pastor had never traveled outside the country, let alone to a far place which he would be shown (even though he had some information).

Maybe most significantly is the manner in which the producer even had the hand held computer in the first place. The story here is that during the week before our departure the producer had tried to secure one of these but found it impossible due to the high demand. However during a conversation with a colleague, who happened to know someone who knew someone, you have heard this kind of concept before, at the last minute such a device came into his hands and he made an ‘11^th hour’ decision to take it along.

Back to our time in the gate area.

During the previous week the producer had tried to find a way to lengthen his stay and during this process looked at alternative carriers and flight potential to our ultimate destination. So with this in mind he went on line, checked the carrier web site and found that seats were available the next day, which, without a layover such as we had, would get the Pastor to our destination 1 hour in advance of our arrival. To shorten the story I will just say we were able to contact the Pastor and he went on line or called the carrier, made the flight arrangements and the next morning was on his way. Alone, through a different carrier than we normally use, connecting through a foreign city in the Middle East, traveling on faith alone. He made it to our destination, Nairobi, Kenya. We were able to connect with our destination contacts that were also able to move their travel time to pick up our Pastor friend prior to our arrival.

WOW, if this alone was the story it would still be a great one, but this is not the end.

Do you think there is warfare if nothing is at stake? Could this be just dumb bad luck overcome by plain old good luck assisted by technology? I mean stuff happens and without knowing an outcome of the intervention which seems to have taken place, warfare hardly seems an appropriate word.

Yes, in Kenya, we were reunited with our traveling companion and very glad for that. Things planned were back on track. (besides this time frame opened the door for our traveling Pastor to have significant conversation with our host Pastor, an affinity developed which led to a greater degree of involvement in the days ahead for the traveling Pastor, which is the testimony to why this was warfare.)

More on the warfare purpose in the next post.

May our God richly bless and provide for His purpose in you

Bud