The Truth About Compassion

What do you think of when you hear the word compassion? How do you define it? The Latin meaning of the word is "co-suffering" or "to suffer with". That definition makes it more of a verb than a noun--a word that requires action. Compassion comes in many forms and doesn't look the same for every person or in every circumstance. You can show compassion to for a friend by simply offering a shoulder to cry on...sometimes crying with them in that moment. You can show compassion by lifting someone up in prayer and asking for God to act and provide comfort in their life. You can show compassion by jumping in with both feet, running to someone in immediate need rather than away from them--performing CPR during a medical emergency, offering the clothes off your own back to warm them or to stop the bleeding, entering a burning building to find that scared child, or taking a meal to a family that is so overwhelmed with grief that they can't pause to care for their own physical needs. Compassion requires action. But in order to act, we have to let it in. We have to open ourselves up to feeling the very suffering that the other person is experiencing. That's not always easy. For some, it's more intuitive than for others. But we have a way of hardening and protecting ourselves over time. Life is hard and we learn early on that growing a thick skin is the way to get through this life and all its difficulties. But living a thick-skinned life, if you approach people that way, is an empty life. We have no greater example of compassion than Jesus Christ who gave His entire life even to the point of suffering and death, out of compassion for all of us.

We may not be able to personally touch the lives of those suffering in other parts of the world, but we CAN share with them the message of the extreme compassion their Savior has for them. To help that message reach those who haven't yet heard, visit https://www.mygfa.org/makeadifferencenowblog/.

The truth about compassion? It's a verb.

Easter Hope for the Hopeless

Easter has always been my favorite day of the year--even more so than Christmas. I have fond memories of waking up to find an Easter basket filled with goodies hiding in brightly-colored eggs, eating breakfast, and heading off to church in a brand new Easter dress and shoes. Even as a child, hearing the trumpet played to "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" brought me such joy and almost tears. As soon as the song would end, I couldn't wait to do it again the next year! We went to church regularly, but Easter was always a welcome opportunity to hear once again of God's victory over sin and death and of the promise of eternal life in Heaven with Him.

But just imagine for a moment--really imagine--what it would be like to hear about Easter for the FIRST time. Let it sink in. It's hard for most of us to do since we have grown up with this amazing reality from childhood and can't remember not knowing. Try to imagine your life without the hope that He gives us in this life and life eternal. Imagine living without the peace and the joy that gets us through the toughest of life's circumstances. Imagine if you lived in a society that labeled you, from birth, as less than human. Untouchable. Destined to live out your life on earth as the lowest of the low facing discrimination, dehumanization, degradation, and violence every day. Utter hopelessness without Hope. Dalit. A reality for an estimated 250 million people in Asia.

Now imagine that YOU can bring hope to them. Imagine that YOU can share the love and hope of Christ with them, changing their reality today and even their ETERNITY. What is it worth? Could you give up just one dinner out to help support the cause? Eat Easter leftovers instead? Skip that sale at your favorite store because you really don't need anything? Give your weekly Starbucks budget to something with eternal impact?

You can make an Easter gift to those who have yet to hear the Gospel by supporting native missionaries who travel by foot to share the good news. My kingdom goal is 100 bikes for missionaries! Please prayerfully consider what God has financially blessed you to do and make a gift at https://www.mygfa.org/makeadifferencenowblog/. Where would any of us be if post-Easter the Apostles had not given their lives to ensure that generations of people they'd never meet were also saved? I'm not asking you to give your life--just one thing that you don't really need anyway.

Jesus said "GO"

"If I firmly believed, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another, then religion would mean to me everything. I would go forth to the world and preach to it in season and out of season." (unknown atheist)

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Jesus, Matthew 28:19)

Sometimes, perhaps most of the time, God answers prayers in unexpected ways. I had been praying for months about a mission trip opportunity in Asia, but was not receiving any response. That is until I started reading Revolution in World Missions by Gospel for Asia founder K.P. Yohannan. The words on the pages were so unimaginable to me--unimaginable because of the magnitude of people living in hopelessness and despair; unimaginable because of the number who have not yet heard the name of Christ preached (over 2,000,000,000 people in 1,240 distinct cultural groups); unimaginable because of the amazing work that God is doing in Asia that can only be described as reading like the Book of Acts. I knew immediately that God was indeed calling me to Asia, but not in the way I had in mind.  

Although there is a time and place for Americans to travel abroad for missions, there is still a need so great that we alone cannot fill no matter how committed we are and how faithful we are. You see, there are people who we can't even begin to reach, that can only be reached by their own through the indigenous missionary movement. These natives have the ability to go to areas restricted to outsiders, speak or quickly learn the language or dialect, and understand how to work within the culture. They can do far more and for a fraction of the cost. The hearts of these brave men and women break for the broken. They go where God calls them, whether the funds are there or not. They walk for hours to reach tiny rural villages, sleep in ditches, and sometimes go without food, face prison, or even death because their hearts break for those for whom Christ died.

God has blessed us all in different ways. As my husband likes to say "Just by being born in America, you have won the lottery." We are blessed with financial resources that may not always feel so great to us, but in the eyes of those missionaries, can be God' blessings abundantly showered on them...IF we let them. We can't all do the same thing, but we can all do something. We are each accountable for responding to God's personal call to us. What is God calling you to do? If your heart is broken for the lost, would you please pray for God's guidance? Could I ask that you also pray for the native missionaries and how God can use you to support their work?

So what is God calling me to do? 

Memorial weekend, my husband Todd and I will be hiking Pike's Peak in Colorado, in honor and support of the thousands of native missionaries who travel by foot to reach the lost--in countries like Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Cambodia. We are doing this to raise awareness and support for these missionaries and specifically to purchase 100 BIKES so they can reach even more lost souls. Over the next couple of months, I will continue to update you on our progress on both our donation goal and our training (hey, it's a 14,000+' mountain). Your prayers and sponsorship are greatly appreciated.

Your Next Step

Please 1) pray about our campaign and for the missionaries 2) go to Gospel for Asia's website and find out more 3) help to purchase bikes for missionaries. 4) SHARE this blog and this campaign with your circle of influence. You never know who God is calling.

Jesus said, "GO".

Answer the Call

I am so over winter. Ready to move on. Ready for spring! But this is St. Louis and you can't rule out the possibility of snow until at least April Fool's Day. Of course, we have been fooled before. So this past week's winter storm was not something I was looking forward to. And after working all day Friday, I have to admit I was initially somewhat resistant to that whisper in my ear that said "shovel the neighbor's driveway...you NEED to shovel the neighbor's driveway." So I did. I probably don't do this sort of thing often enough and although I felt good about it, I also felt a little awkward. Wondering if they saw me. Wondering what they were thinking. Praying that they would not come out and praying that somehow this would mean something for them. What if they left town and didn't tell us? I'd feel a little silly. I also decided that this did in fact qualify as exercise for the day. Check!

Sometimes--most of the time--we never really see the impact of our actions on the people who's lives we touch day in and day out. Every once in a while though, God gives you a little glimpse and inspires you to do more. This was one of those times. After 45 minutes of non-stop shoveling, I went in to change out of my surprisingly sweaty clothes and relax, glad no one had actually come out while I was working. The phone rang. "We saw you. You didn't have to do that." I fumbled for words a little, sort of embarrassed about it but not sure why. I was wondering what her sarcastically witty irreligious husband was thinking. "Jim said to tell you to stop--'Jesus will take care of us.'" I said "He did. Jesus sent me." :) With a laugh, she said she'd tell him and that he just left to pick up a prescription that he needed. They didn't know how they were going to get there and she was considering walking. Wow. I can't tell you how glad I am to have answered that little 'call' that day. I wonder how many times God's called me to other things and I blew Him off. But today's a new day and I'm excited to see what He has in store for me.

So what's God calling you to do? It doesn't have to be big and He doesn't always send lightning bolts. So listen closely...it's usually a whisper.