What is a mission?

We made home made pizza last night with Bob, Caroline, and their son Oden.

As the evening got late, Aurora disappeared and we found her asleep in our bed with her sceptre.

The boys enjoyed a litlle airsoft gun battle in the yard.

If anyone doubted that Phillip and Claire are adolescents then these pictures of Claire may make it clear.

The Andertons below with their adopted daughter Cheyenne. They rescued her from neglect and foster care. The above picture hangs in their house and is one they took in India where they have spent some months on a couple of mission trips. They are originally from Great Britain and also feel like God brought them here.

What is a missionary? by Oswald Chambers

"A missionary is someone sent by Jesus Christ just as He was sent by God. The great controlling factor is not the needs of people, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in our service for God is behind us, not ahead of us. The tendency today is to put the inspiration out in front— to sweep everything together in front of us and make it conform to our definition of success. But in the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, and is the Lord Jesus Himself. The goal is to be true to Him— to carry out His plans.
Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and to His perspective is the one thing that must not be overlooked. In missionary work the great danger is that God’s call will be replaced by the needs of the people, to the point that human sympathy for those needs will absolutely overwhelm the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, and the conditions so difficult, that every power of the mind falters and fails. We tend to forget that the one great reason underneath all missionary work is not primarily the elevation of the people, their education, nor their needs, but is first and foremost the command of Jesus Christ— "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . ." ( Matthew 28:19 )"

The above is a daily on line devotional from My Utmost For His Highest. I had checked the blog this morning and seen no comments on my last entry about the kids. I seem to always want to just write about the kids. It takes less time than some of the deeper things God is teaching and showing me. I always seem to think of topics I want to write about but can't seem to take or find the time to put to words. It is safe to write about the kids because I know the grandparents really miss them and love the pics. There are lots of other people that we are getting to know and share our lives with but it hasn't seemed right to put their intimate life details on the world wide web. Some of them read it! Can you imagine seeing some detail you have told me about yourself posted here. I have already angered one person by mentioning details better left private. I was thinking that some may feel the "mission" lacking and then I pulled up my morning devotional. The above was a God sent reminder that the great controlling factor for us being here is the command of Jesus, the inspiration he gave us to come, to be true to him and to carry out his plans. The needs of people anywhere in the world can be overwhelming with poverty, health issues, and broken relationships. Here it is a culture that struggles with racial issues, land rights, European colonization, family breakdown, unemployment, gangs, drugs, and "free medical care" that falls short of actually taking care of sickness. Lynn and I have jokingly said that the system looks at the patient and says, " You are too sick too treat or you are not sick enough." Many treatments such as antibiotics, chemotherapy, modern pacemakers, portable oxygen, allergy shots, etc just are not offered anywhere. What they do have is rationed to the point that the waits are so long that the patient ends up often past the point of being helped by it. We have tons of examples of people waiting months for surgery and then being past surgical cure by the time their turn comes around. My next door neighbor has a brain tumor that causes seizures and now is causing eyesight problems and nerve damage. She has waited at least the 6 months we have been here and now is scheduled to possibly have the surgery in February 2009! That is just so hard for us to support if "free" means limited therapy and year long waits in misery. Anyway, we just keep doing what we can in the system we are in. I will be lecturing at a national pathology meeting next weekend. Prayers for that would be appreciated. I have always felt teaching was part of my God given wiring so I pray that the information is communicated clearly and understood in a helpful way without me throwing up on stage. As far as spiritual needs, they are all around us as each person we know has a step to take towards God with obstacles they face. For some the first step is believing that God exists in a post modern mindset with the obstacle of seeing Christianity and church as judgemental and uncaring. I love these people and we have great conversations. What people think about God and what The Bible actually says about him has always fascinated me. Aren't we all working out our understanding? I am enjoying reading Finding God in Unexpected Places by Philip Yancey. If you don't know what you think about God you might find this book thought provoking and spiritually insightful. Anyway, I also am very thankful for the friends here who share our faith in Christ and whose next step is with us as we all grow a little fuller in our faith by walking through the obstacles of life. Parenting is a huge area of common ground and like mindedness especially with the Abascal and the Anderton families. There are a ton of other families from school that we have a great time just having fun with as our kids play together. The "kitchen conversations" are great and the people we meet are fascinating. For example about every 10th person has lived months to years on sailboats sailing the world. My pilates teacher and her urologist husband are an example ( 7 years with 2 kids sailing from England to the Eastern US coast, panama canal, pacific islands). The navy seal we had dinner with last night retired at 37 and lived in Mexico, Tonga, etc. Our landlord house owners Mike and Min are fascinating as they biked Asia and Europe for a few years. They responded to the 2 basement floods this week by fixing the drain, doing 3 loads of wet towels including folding, and leaving chocolate and champaigne. We have invited them this afternoon to share the champaigne on their deck as we ask them what it was like to raise four teenagers in this house. He is a psychologist so the answer should be good!

We are exploring different options for reaching out to people with the message of Christ around Christmas time so please pray for revelation and send us any ideas you may have.

Time's Flying

AURORA!!!

This tree in our yard is pictured 6 weeks ago and then below is the green leafy appearance this week. Spring is full here and with it our allergies are giving Claire, Lynn, and me problems.

If you look close there was a rainbow over Mount Manaia this week. It has been extremely sunny and this was a quick short shower. It is so sunny that the kids are required to wear hats during recess at school.

Time is flying as we pass the 6 month mark. I can't believe it is the end of October. A big thanks to Aunt Brooke and Uncle Matt who sent this beautiful Aurora costume for Anna for dress up and Halloween. They celebrate it here in NZ but it's not a big deal. There are scattered dress up parties. The school is having a party but people don't really trick or treat door to door. As a family our policy has been dress up as a positive character (although Lynn says it doesn't have to be a hero of the Reformation like we heard one church suggest! ha ha) and get the candy while down playing any wickedness. I can respect other views on this one. In any case regardless of how you feel about Halloween it is a landmark for Fall at home and the nearness of Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you don't want a wool sweater, NZ wine or a greenstone necklace you better get your wish list to this Santa soon. I turn 40, ouch, the week before Christmas so you might want to get me a rocker to go with my walker. I am very struck with getting older and with the kids getting older. This is especially true of Phillip and Claire who are adolescents now according to the Prep For The Middle Years CD's I have been listening too (They are by Gary and Ann Marie Ezzo and I would highly recommend them to you guys with 8-12yo kids). I can really see their little child like ways fading into young adult conversations, humor, expressions, emotions, and interests. It is definitely a new era of parenting and a new friendship we have with them. With Phillip and Claire we are still mom and dad but the 4 of us seem to have this buddy time too in a way that we couldn't when they were potty training, etc. They are thinking through things more and trying to understand why in a good way. Anna and Andrew are just plain sweet and cuddly and cute and obedient. Let's just put it like this, Anna is Aurora and Andrew is Batman but Phillip and Claire just want to go hang out at the school party. It is a sweet time because they still want to hang out with us too.

Sunday at the Park

Kids (Zara,Anna,Caleb,Claire, and Phillip) at the top of the half pipe.

First you hang! (Zara, Anna, and Claire)
Then some slide!
There is only one way down so Anna did it too.
Phillip and Caleb (friend from church) at the top of the half pipe.

Andrew at our house with the home made bow and arrow. Grapes are forming on the vine adjacent to him. Andrew in my veggie garden. I have branched out from the usual Kensington tomatoes to onions, lettuce, peas, green beans, strawberrys, spinach, squash, cucumber, and zucchini.
Claire on the porch of what would be your guest room porch. Note the grape vines on an arbor below her.

Phillip hanging out on the porch.

It was good to go to church today and then to a park with another family. We have been a bit homesick and it did us good today. Despite the homesickness (even a few comments from the kids who have now been in school for the 15th month in a row), we have a definite resolve to finish what was set before us and have a great time doing it. We would love some visitors though!! We are starting to doubt if we will see anyone. The weather gets better everyday. Please note the picture of your balcony off the guest room. If you time it just right you could probably eat grapes from the bed. The strawberries will be in for Christmas and there is nothing like a beach barbeque. I might even have some decent homegrown southern style vegetables to throw in. How about a Poll. Vote by leaving a comment if you would come to New Zealand if health reasons, time off from work, and finances weren't obstacles. We love and miss everyone back home. Keep up the support and prayers. Dawn and Lynn

Fiji-sunscreen,sunsets,sugar,and society

Fiji rush hour as workers came to and from work by wading or by small boats out in front of the house.
Phillip wind surfing and girls kayaking.
Sand castle making...actually all 4 together, getting along, etc.
Don't laugh, too loud. My brother got us all Vols clothes and yes mine says "Smokey is my Homeboy". Guess what souvenir I am bringing back for the Hatmakers?

Andrew is an Island Boy and the girls made up a song for him to sing, "I'm an Island Boy". Maybe it will be Kenny Chesney's next big hit.
The beach house we rented had a clear shallow beach in front of it. Lots of Fijiians waded to and from work across to Malolo Island where there was a village.
Lots of dishes to wash.
The boys on a Hobey Cat.

Kenny took us around to visit the village including a Fiji day festival where billionare Owen Glenn attended. Owen and the Nichols stuck out in the crowd, for different reasons. Anna in the school library in the village.
Fijiian students practicing a flag ceremony for Fiji day.
The village church but not the one we went to.
Me doing a little shopping for my sister's Birthday. Don't tell!

Lots of sunny weather for sunbathing.
Meals were a fun time at the beach house and we taught the kids to play Rook in the evenings.
Anna and Andrew led Homechurch Worship Sunday Morning at the beach house.

Beautiful flowers we wore in our hair and decorated the table with.
South Pacific Princess

Low tide in the lagoon where we sailed and windsurfed in the mornings.
Great climbing tree outside the house. I didn't get a photo of Lynn and Andrew's gardening friend, Peter climbing trees for coconuts.

I thought I would list the following high points of our Fiji trip

1)The beauty is amazing and everything a pacific tropical paradise is thought to be. The Blue Lagoon movie with Brooke Shields was filmed a few islands over. I didn't feel like Brooke but more like The Grizwalds.

2)We all enjoyed seeing some family and that was great for the kids. Please come visit us and we will take you somewhere fun but perhaps somewhere in New Zealand which is politically more stable.

3) Speaking of political instability, Fiji is loaded with it. The Fijians are naturally black (melanesian) in complexion and were fierce cannabilistic warriors with a tribal system among the various geographically close cluster of 40 some islands. They were heavily influenced by Christian missionaries in the 18th and 19th centuries and remain more "Christian" in outward association with more religious influence evident than in New Zealand (For example bible verse on bulletin board at the school). Most of the earliest missionaries were Methodists ( a few were eaten!) and then later the Catholics came. Sadly, there was tension among the protestants and Catholic missionaries. Although it was a British commonwealth, Fijiians maintained more local tribal control than the Maori did in New Zealand. In the early 20th century the Fijians started importing people from India to work as indentured servants in the sugar plantations. The Indians brought Hindu and Islamic influences and different cultural habits that were not well received by the indigenous folk who have reportedly maintained an attitude of supremecy. The indiginous fijians fear the ever growing numbers of Indians (Indofijians) may mean losing control of their own homeland and being over run by a foreign people. Instead of a melting pot it is more like oil and water as one pastor told me. For the last 100 years the Indians have been lawfully and officially imposed on based on their race and it still goes on. Many have left and I have met some in the hospitalhere in Whangarei. The Fijians today own 80 % of the land (Indians are not constitutionally allowed to own land) but 90% of the sugar crops are worked and managed by Indians under limited leases. The last 20 years has seen many political coups similar to Haiti but through out it all Fiji has been able to maintan and grow the tourist industry by isolating the political issues. Some key political years were the 1987 election which saw a native Fijian Medical Doctor elected as Prime minister with sympathetic ties and backing by the Indians. He was overthrown by the Fijian military loyalists and never regained his elected position despite a world wide tour to appeal. 1997 saw their constitution revised to say that although an Indian could not be president ( honorary tribal chief position kind of like the Queen of England) an Indofijian could lawfully be elected Prime Minister (functioning head of things). Indeed in 2000 the Indian population had grown enough to elect the first Indian (Indofijian) prime minister but shortly after taking office he was held hostage with his cabinet for 8 weeks. A political scramble insued and a new indiginous Fijian loyal government named themself in his place. They stayed in power until recently when in December a year and half ago a Fiji military leader ousted them and had himself named prime minister. He remains in military based control of the country so we didn't venture toward the capital.

3) Back on the island of Malololailai the sweet Fijian people seemed far removed from all the politics. There was poverty with needs for water, housing, employment, etc. Our first night we had a "late night visitor" come to take water from our beach house's water tank (all though it contained mosquito larvae in our drinking water). Articles of clothing/towels/etc were reported to "just go missing" a lot. We did find the people very kind and we even were invited to shop at a near by village, see a school, and attend a Christian service with a small group of sweet locals in the hills behind the resort. Fortunately it was in English and it was a blessing for us to hear the word of God taught (the sermon was on missions) by a Fijian pastor while we were seated with people who work at the resort. They asked Lynn and I to say a few words. Lynn asked for prayer for the US economic situation and election as it ripples across the world and I shared a verse that I had been thinking of that day (Galatians 3:26). It says believers in Jesus are "clothed in the righteousness of Christ" not our own goodness/self righteousness (which by the way we have none) and in that "there is neither Jew or Greek, free or slave, male or female" or anything else that causes discrimination but we are "one in Christ". I was reminded of a sermon on Acts that I heard recently in Whangarei from a minister who spent 30 years in Papa New Guinea and 2 or 3 in Fiji. He said based on the New Testament there is no room for ethnic cultural superiority for a Christian. We are finding that many people lump Christianity in with British empire colonization and all the bad that conquest brought. I have read a wonderful book about women pioneers of the Northland here in NZ and most were Christian missionaries who brought education, medicine, suffrage rights and advocated for Maori against entrepeneurs with more economic self interests. I think sometimes the benefits the missionaries brought are forgotten and their motives misunderstood.

4) One day while on this beautiful pacific resort, my journal page for the day had a translation of Psalm 71:3 which reads, "Be thou my strong habitation, wherunto I may continually RESORT..for thou art my rock and my fortress. " and I thought about the politics, the social injustices/prejudices, the economic crisis, the various militaries of the world, the uncertainty of aspects of life, and I was thankful that God calls himself a RESORT to which I can always go and rest and be safe.

5)Anyway, we had a great time as a family enjoying the hot sunny weather and the resort with the kayaks, the hobey cats, a fishing trip, and snorkeling. We ate a new fruit called Paw-Paw (as in the Jungle book) as well as the biggest crab we had ever seen. We rode bikes, wind surfed, napped, and swam. The last night we stayed at a 5 star hotel close to the airport and had Indian food (my favorite food) buffet and enjoyed watching Nim's Island in the airconditioning.

What A Wonderful World

I came over to Sydney from Fiji without Dawn and the kids so that I could take a medical recertification exam tomorrow. (Intense prayer for my success tomorrow around 9am Australian EST encouraged!) I miss Dawn and the kids but I also enjoy a few days to walk around a new place and do what I call a "Bill Bryson". If you've read his books you know he just takes off with only a general idea of his direction, meeting new people and seeing what's interesting without spending alot of money.

I've only had one full day in Sydney- but what a Sunday it was. I got up early yesterday and took the train ($5 round trip) out to the suburb where Hillsongs Church is located. The church provides a bus from the train station for all visitors. Waiting there with me were Christians from all over the world coming to worship at this church that has been so influential worldwide. In a way, we were modern pilgrims visiting a site of God's activity. I met people from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Seattle, the Phillipines, Sri Lanka and Holland- not to mention all the Aussies. Worship was inspirational and the pastor's message can be summed up as follows: Life and God are about relationships with other humans and with Him- just as Jesus dared to associate with lepers, we need to reach out to socially isolated people with love- he recommended that the best way to make friends was to be humble and friendly. I applied these principles to the rest of my day with great results!

I returned downtown around lunchtime and ate a whole, grilled Barramundi on the waterfront ($30) while studying a bit. I then bought a Sydney Harbor ferry day pass ($16) and spent the afternoon cruising through hundreds of sailboats and past the Sydney icons. The Sydney Harbor bridge and the opera house are beautiful from the water. While boarding the ferry I met a very nice woman from Atlanta, GA who commented on my Auburn bag with, "I'm a Dawgs fan". The accent was music to my ears. She travels to Sydney a good bit with work and, with true Southern hospitality, gave me great advice on which ferry has the best views. After visiting Manley Beach (where Keith and Nicole reportedly have their Australian home) I was sitting on the return ferry next to two young ladies speaking a funny sounding German. It ended up that it was Swiss-German they were speaking and that one of them was finishing the 3 year Bible college at Hillsongs. To underscore the small-world feeling even more- she is marrying a Maori man from Whangarei in a few months and probably moving there so her husband can be a pastor. Choice!

The day only got better with dinner. I had the privilege of dining with nearly life-long Sydneysider and author Roy Williams. You may recall from an earlier blog entry that he has written the book God, Actually. He has such great insight into the postChristian, materialistic mindset of Aussies and Americans. He also has keen political awareness. It was like having dinner with an old friend as we shared surprisingly similar stories. He just received the good news that an English company is buying the American rights to his book. Please pray for this book's success in America- I wish well for Roy, but, most importantly, I think his well reasoned explanation of a skeptic's path to faith in God can connect to wealthy, successful American couples in a unique, powerful and life-changing way. We both agreed that if any good can come out of the current financial crisis it is that people will realize God made us to do our life's work not just to accumlate wealth- but to provide basic necessities for our families and to express love to Him and to the people around us. For an exhaustive treatise on this subject read Ecclesiastes in its entirety.

Alas, I did come here ostensibly for work. So today is a study day- with a museum or two thrown in for good measure.

Poem Night

We are back from Fiji with tans and fond memories. I will write more when I can add some of the pictures and have time to tell the stories. In the mean time I wanted to share about the poetry night we participated in with the Anglican pastor friends, Mike and Ann. It was a dinner party before we left for Fiji where in each person brought a poem to read aloud and then an accompaning song to listen to as you sipped on a relevant beverage. It was a delightful evening and I highly recommend both skeptics and poetry lovers to round up some friends to have your own poetry night. It was great fun to hear the variety of poems and the equally thought provoking songs. I think everyone enjoyed preparing for the evening and diving into a poetry search to find a poem to share. I especially enjoyed the following one as it was written by a new friend and attendee of the evening, Richard. I have reproduced it here with his permission. It won't be the same without his lovely wife reading it out loud in the candle lit moment but I hope it touches you whose face is extra special to me or you wouldn't be reading this blog.

Faces

I look at faces,
Catching glimpses
Through the windows
of the soul.
Sounds voyeuristic?
I’m unrepentant -
It’s not a question
of self-control
Cos these windows at least
Open onto the street,
So I look at faces

Faces of strangers,
faces of friends
Windows upon windows
without end.
Rooms lit with love,
rooms dark with pain,
Tears unwept
into lives that need rain.

I look at faces
Catching traces
Of another’s humanity.
Sometimes my eyes
Catching other eyes
Catching people
looking back at me
And I cannot say why
We both look quickly away

Faces of beauty,
Some that are marred;
Seeing loveliness
In the physically scarred;
Seeing ugliness
In an almost perfect form
Frozen faces
dying to be warm.

I look at faces
For God’s graces
Look for his image
Ev’rywhere I go.
A face can move me,
A face can scare me
But beyond all this I know:
In this darkness
the divine spark is
Why I look at faces.