A Hundred Times As Much

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.  Mark 10:29-30

Right now, I feel like I am living these verses.  Allow me to elaborate…

Yesterday we celebrated American Thanksgiving at the Base with all of the SI-DR staff, missionaries, and their families.  It was a good old fashioned turkey dinner, complete with green bean casserole and sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. 

It was hilarious to hear Raul translating the various dishes into Spanish!  Especially when he said we had ‘turkey pie’ for dessert.  I guess pumpkin sounded a bit like ‘pavo’ (the Spanish word for turkey).    

As I looked around the room, I thought about the missionaries with whom I serve.  Some gathered had left lucrative careers, homes they had lived in for years, pensions, access to excellent schools for their children.  All had left the comfort and convenience of living in a First World country.  All had left their church families, and most, part of their biological families, too.  Parents, siblings, children, and, hardest of all, grandchildren. 

But, filling the room there was laughter bursting out.  There was conversation – in English, Spanish and Spanglish!  There was fun and fellowship and cameras taking pictures.  There was… Family.  Yes, we had left behind quite a lot, but, oh, how God has provided!  I went home feeling full.  Full of amazing food, but even more, full of thanks to God for His blessings. 

We had today as a day off, and I spent it in Mata de Platano, the community where Carlos, his parents and other family, live.  It’s also where we teach English two nights a week.  Carlos’ sister, Yineth (I’m 100% sure I misspelled that!), and another friend, Margot, invited me to come and learn how to bake bread and ginger galletas (kind of a cross between bread and a cookie).  

Communities like theirs have ‘open door’ policies - if the front door is open, come on in!  So, there was a steady stream in and out all afternoon.  Margot was getting ready for an aunt and uncle visiting from New York, so along with teaching me, she and another woman were preparing a feast.  She didn’t make me feel like I was in the way, she just let me be there, hanging out.

As I leaned up against the kitchen counter trying to follow the various conversations, I once again felt full.  Full of delicious sweet, strong coffee and samples of the galletas, but also full of thanksgiving.  Even though this small, poor home was filled with people who are very different from me, who I still have a hard time understanding, they have accepted me and made me part of their family.

And, because God is amazing, Margot invited us to join them for dinner.  Full on top of full!!

I love those verses in Mark because they help me remember that as long as I am serving Jesus, there will be plenty of blessing.   And, plenty of persecution.  Oh, shoot. 

The promises Jesus has given are true, even the parts we’d rather not be!  While I don’t feel I have undergone true persecution yet, I have experienced discouragement and frustration, mocking and hard hearts, as well as spiritual warfare.  As long as I am serving Jesus, I can expect Satan to oppose me.  If he doesn’t, well, that’s more concerning than if he does!   

The hundred times as much cannot compare to what is awaiting us next.  Eternal life, when there will be no more partings or deaths or persecution or sadness.  We will be one big family, adopted children of the King, bought by the blood of Christ.

It would be enough to have the promise of that eternal life.  But, our amazing God has promised blessings here on earth as well.  This Thanksgiving weekend has reminded me of just how blessed I am. 

Yes, I left a lot of those I love to come and follow His call.  It hasn’t always been easy, and at times I still get lonely and homesick.  But, oh, how He loves us!  Although I miss my family and friends, God is faithful, and has provided so much more than I could have ever asked or even imagined.  A hundred times as much.  What a God we serve! 

Samo Seed Searching



Yesterday was Saturday, which means Hike Day for Carlos and me.  Whenever possible, we like to spend a good part of the day enjoying the beautiful mountains in this area.  Before heading out, Isa asked us if we wanted to find some more samo seeds.  Oh, yes, please!

Samo seed tree

I’ve written about Isa before.  He is one of our English students, and has grown up learning about the matas (plants) surrounding him. 

A couple of weeks ago before class I showed him this cool seed I’d found on a hike.  He immediately identified it as a samo seed, and asked if I wanted some more.  Sure!  I said. 

The next English class he greeted me with a bag of samo seeds… around 50 of them!  Do you want more?  Sure!  The next week… around 200 more!

Even though I don’t consider myself crafty, I’ve started painting them to make small gifts for friends, and hopefully to sell at the SI Base to raise some money for the Social Work site.   



Carlos & Isa opening seed pods.
Notice the brown and green pods behind them.

So, yesterday, I was happy to go and find some more.  Isa led us down to the river, and pointed out a huge tree.  That’s where the seeds come from, he told us.  Cool! 

I immediately started looking for seeds in what seemed a logical way - down on the ground.  I was excited to find a few, here and there. 

Look!  Carlos pointed up to where there were these huge brown pods.  That’s where the seeds are. 

No, the picture isn't tilted. Isa really stretched out horizontally!



Isa led us to another tree and pointed out green pods, as well as lots and lots of the brown ones.  He climbed up and started pulling the brown pods off, dropping them and showering us with leaves and twigs. 

On the ground Carlos and I opened the pods, revealing smaller ‘packages’, each with a single samo seed.  It was a reminder of how God has created all things with amazing order and precision. 



God's perfect packaging.



I was so grateful to Isa for taking the time to share his knowledge with us.  Without his help, we’d have found maybe a dozen samo seeds and been pretty content.  Having the help of someone who knew the ‘landscape’ meant a rich bounty instead of a handful. 

It made me think about knowledge I have that I need to be sharing.  Especially, the knowledge of Jesus Christ. 



Jesus commanded His disciples to go and make other disciples.  That seems to imply that the only way disciples are made is through the help of other disciples.  Don’t get me wrong!  I believe the Holy Spirit can move in whatever way He chooses, growing followers in His manner. 

Finished product

But, like the samo seeds, I believe God’s plan is for someone who knows the ‘landscape’ to help guide those less familiar!   

My faith and knowledge of God has been enriched and strengthened through others who have walked with Him for much longer than I have. 

The Holy Spirit has used their willingness to pour into me to equip me to pour into others.  As I have been discipled, I now need to disciple. 

The next time I want samo seeds (which may be a long, long time from now as we found around 300!) I’ll be able to take others along, showing them how to find the tree – and God’s amazing samo seed ‘packaging’!  Hopefully one of them will be somewhat agile, since I’ll never be able to climb like Isa! 

And, that’s what being a disciple is all about, too.  Not hoarding our knowledge of Jesus, but sharing what we’ve learned with others, helping them grow to share, too.

The 'Right' Question

Today is International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, a day when believers everywhere are invited to pray for those who live under threat for following Christ. 

I receive a daily email from Open Doors, an organization that serves persecuted believers around the world.  This week, I read the following words from Helen Roseveare, who was a missionary to Congo, Africa, from 1953-1973.  (I’ll warn you, this is not easy to read!)

“During the Simba uprising in the Congo, I was raped twice. Government soldiers came to my bungalow, ransacked it, and then grabbed me. I was beaten and savagely kicked, losing my back teeth through the boot of a rebel soldier. They broke my glasses, so I could not see to protect myself from the next blow.

“Then one at a time, two army officers took me to my own bedroom and raped me. They dragged me out into a clearing, tied me to a tree, and stood around laughing. And while I was there, beaten and humiliated and violated, someone brought out the only existing hand-written manuscript of a book I had been writing about God’s work in the Congo over an eleven-year period. They put it on the ground in front of me and burned it.

“I asked myself, Was it worth it? Eleven years of my life poured out in selfless service for the African people and now this? The minute I expressed that, God’s Holy Spirit settled over that terrible scene and He began to speak to me.”

‘“My daughter, the question is not “Is it worth it?” The question is, “Am I worthy?” Am I, the Lord Jesus who gave His life for you, worthy for you to make this kind of sacrifice for Me.’ And God broke my heart,” Helen continues. “I looked up and I said, ‘Oh Lord Jesus, yes, it is worth it, for You are worthy!’” She concludes, “When you ask the right question, you’ll always know that He is absolutely worthy of anything you can give Him or do for Him!”

Helen returned to Congo after all the above and continued her life of service for Jesus among the African people.

When I look at my life, I have to wonder if I have been asking the right question.  The fact is, if I keep the focus on me, on my cost, on my discomfort, my answer will always be “No, it’s not worth it”.  The trouble is, since I didn’t start out asking the right question, my answer is not right, either.

“Am I worthy?”  I think it’s easy to say God is worthy, and to talk about how Jesus gave up ‘everything’. But, do we truly understand what that means?  

If we grasp even a tiny bit of His worthiness, the cost to our lives in comparison is so miniscule as to be ‘statistically insignificant’ – not even a part of the equation.  Perhaps that’s why we don’t spend much time pondering this!          

Today, there are believers suffering what Helen suffered – and worse!  Satan knows his time grows shorter each day that they stand firm, and so his attacks are brutal and relentless.  We need to be in prayer for our brothers and sisters undergoing persecution, asking the Holy Spirit to strengthen them to endure, because He is worthy. 

Satan knows that for the Western church, the seduction of personal comfort and convenience is an effective way to stifle the Gospel.  The Holy Spirit can strengthen us, too, to refuse to allow our worship of comfort to get in the way of our worship of our Holy, Almighty God.  And so, we need to be in prayer for each other, because He is worthy.    

All of us need to spend significant time meditating on the worthiness of Jesus.  I believe that if we do, we will be able to say with Helen that “He is absolutely worthy of anything you can give or do for Him.” 

If He is not, we need to stop this silly farce and just do our own thing.  But, if He is… oh, friends, if He is, may we be worthy to give up anything and everything for His glory! 

Stretching Time

This weekend a lot of folks are going to ‘fall back’, gaining an hour of sleep and evening light.  Here in the DR we don’t do that, so I’ll need to remember that we’re an hour ahead when planning Skype dates, etc.

Time.  It’s something I think about (okay, obsess about!) a lot.  Even after more than a year in countries where timeliness isn’t as important, I can’t seem to help myself.  If something is supposed to start at 10, and we haven’t started by 10:15, I get anxious.

Because I consider time a precious commodity, I tend to fill it in a way to maximize productivity.  Why do only one thing when I can get three done simultaneously? 

The trouble is, like a balloon, I keep forcing more and more into the space until my day (and me!) is straining to hold it all in.  Then, when something is running 15 minutes late… POP!  

So, I start to pray.  Please, Father, stretch my time so I can finish all the things I need to do for You.  On the surface, this seems like a reasonable, even pious, request.  After all, even Joshua asked for extra time to complete a task God had given him (Joshua 10)!

Now, like Joshua, at times we all get super busy, and the demands on us are all important.  I think we truly do want to do great things for our great God.  But, I’m beginning to think that my well-intended ‘stretching’ prayers say more about my need to be in control than about glorifying God.

God separated the light from the darkness, established day and night, and called it good.  He established rhythms by which to live.  There is a time, a season for everything.  Sowing and Reaping, Tearing Down and Building Up, even Loving and Hating (Ecclesiastes 3). 

In the ‘olden days’ it wasn’t really possible to keep working on into the night.  Now, we’ve made artificial suns, and so we can keep going.  Instead of a healthy rhythm of sleeping and waking, working and resting, we push out into night.  The balloon keeps stretching, nearing the bursting point. 

We’ve made the super-busy Christian into the standard for true holiness.  Wow, look at her!  No matter what the activity, she’s right here to help out.  Look at him!  He hasn’t been home a single night this week.  We’re sure blessed to have him be our pastor! 

Worse, we look down on those who don’t keep the pace.  What do you mean you want to skip Bible Study this week to spend time with your family?  You can’t help because you’re going to sit and read a book… just for fun? 

I have to confess to having bought into this.  As if ignoring God’s rhythm, and instead frantically living at the bursting point, is somehow pleasing to Him.  One of the Ten Commandments is to honor the Sabbath (Exodus 20).  By consecrating (making holy) an entire day, I think God made His desire for us to have rest pretty clear! 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, but there’s so much to be done!  My ‘pious’ prayer quickly becomes a put-upon whine, Lord, don’t You care?  Don’t You see how busy I am, doing things for You?  What will happen if I dry my hands and come out of the kitchen to sit with Mary?  Do You want to try and teach above the sound of all these grumbling stomachs? (Luke 10)

It seems to me the utmost in arrogance to act as if without my effort God’s will is not going to be accomplished.  Yes, we all have a part, but a part of our part is living how God has intended. 

What if… what if what I really need to be praying is not for God to stretch my time, but for me to have the will, the resolve, the courage, even, to let some things go?  To seek to live within God’s good and perfect boundaries? 

I cannot change how others view time, but I can begin changing how I do.  I’m happy to say I have taken some baby steps.  It used to be I’d get anxious if we were 5 minutes late!  Yep, in 15 months my ‘anxiety-meter’ has moved ten whole minutes… But, it’s a start!

I pray that whatever you have to do today, you will take some time to just enjoy being in God’s presence.  Resting, relaxing, allowing a bit of air to seep out of the balloon.  God has promised that when we honor His good and perfect commands, we will be blessed.  Let’s start to live out of that assurance!  Let’s start today!

Focused Prayer

At our staff Bible Study last night we talked about Worship, and specifically how Prayer is a part of worship.   Worship, and therefore Prayer, should be focused on God, and on His glory.   

I’m sure you’ve heard before that you can tell what a person truly worships by the way they spend their time and their money.  After pondering what I learned last night, I think we need to add, by the way they pray, too. 

Ouch.  I have to confess that my prayers often include a quick acknowledgement of God, a Thank You, and then, the niceties completed, it’s time to get to the heart of things.  You know, my needs and desires, my confession, my petitions.  

Not that any of these are bad!  Jesus taught His disciples to include asking for daily bread, forgiveness, and deliverance from evil.  But, when my prayer is focused on me, who am I really worshiping?

During our Bible Study we used The Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23 as a way to learn more about how to pray.  We were then invited to spend time alone, writing out a prayer, using those models to guide us. 

As I pondered the amazing holiness of God, words poured out, quickly filling up the page.  Verses from the Psalms, Revelation and more came to mind, becoming a part of my prayer.  By centering on God and His glory, the needs of my life took their proper place.  Yes, they were there, but, so is God. 

This morning I began my quiet time and started praying in my normal ‘me-centered’ way.  And then, what sorrow as the Holy Spirit prompted me to see it.  I am ashamed to admit, praying in an intentionally God-focused way is not natural for me.  Yet. 

But, I pray that the Holy Spirit continues to move in me, moving me out of the way so that God alone is the focus of my worship.  That He alone is glorified and exalted in all aspects of my life, including my prayers.

Dear Father,

Holy, Holy, Holy.  You are worthy, You alone are worthy to receive all praise, all glory. 

By You and through You all things were made.  You spoke and it was good. 

You always were, You always are, You always will be.  My mind cannot begin to understand this. 

There is no place where You are not, and yet You cannot be contained.  Instead, You hold all things in Your hand.  The hand where You have measured all the waters of the earth.  The hand in which You have carved each of Your children. 

Thank you for all You are.  Thank you for all You have done, for all You are doing, for all You will do. 

Thank you for Your patience, holding back Your wrath and judgment so all may have the opportunity to hear of You, to accept Your gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Jesus.  The name above all names, the name which allows me to even be talking to You.  Jesus, who emptied Himself so that we may be filled to all fullness.  Jesus, a name taken lightly, misused, scorned.  In some places, a name worthy of death.  Strengthen the Persecuted Church, I pray. 

Oh, Jesus, one day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess!  One day, there will be perfect shalom – nothing missing, nothing broken.  How I long for that day!

Holy Spirit, You were there moving across the void.  You were there with David as He wrote words which millions of voices have used to praise You.  You never leave us, never forsake us.  You groan out our prayers when we are too overwhelmed to know what to say. 

Your presence and power continue to spread like flames throughout the world, drawing some from every tongue, tribe, language and nation to the Throne.

Oh, Triune God, I am small and selfish.  You are big and gave everything.  You are powerful and mighty to save.  May I live out of that truth. Renew my trust in You as I spend time focused on Your greatness, Your glory.

Yours alone is the kingdom, and the power, and glory for now, and forever. 

In Jesus’ name, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen