Martyrs and Missionaries

I met Karol Smith back in 1999 when I was making an exploratory trip to Belize, Central America in preparation for taking students to that part of the world. Karol and her husband, Larry, had been Youth with A Mission (YWAM) supervisors and have lived in Punta Gorda all their adult lives (some 30 years). They lived in a thatched hut. Larry delivered all their babies in their hut and they both speak fluent K’ctchi, the native tongue of the Maya. I got an e-mail from Karol this week in light of attacks they have been experiencing on their lives from some self-proclaimed witches in their village. Here is an excerpt from Karol’s e-mail to me

Since I was a baby Christian (1971) I felt like the Lord showed me that one day I would have the great honor of being a martyr for Him. It seemed very unlikely until the world started tipping over in the last few years. I didn’t doubt it, I just didn’t see how it would/could happen in the kinder world we all lived in. I will be honored to give my life (and death) for the Lord as a martyr. I tell Him a lot when I pray for protection.Lord, I don’t mind being persecuted or killed for You…

I am reminded by my friend’s e-mail that we have entered perilous times worldwide and that persecution of Christians is becoming the modus operandi today. Our lives could all change in a moment. Each morning when I wake up refreshed from a night’s sleep in my warm, cozy bed and see the sun and am able to walk my dogs anywhere I wish to go I am so very thankful. Suppose, however, I would be awaking in a concentration camp facing a day of hard labor feeling always the perpetual gnawing of hunger? I am to be thankful still.

So, while I am on this side of persecution, I must ready myself for anything. Today I am thankful for

#800 Karol and her fervent love of the Lord Jesus.

#801 the saints who have gone before me and stood in the face of martyrdom.

#802 the promises of Scripture that God will be with me in every circumstance, even the valley of the shadow of death.

#803 that He left us strict instructions on what to do about our enemies – love them.

#804 that I have seen movies like “The Hiding Place” and “To End All Wars” that give me modern living, breathing examples of how to endure such terrible persecution in Godly ways.

#805 that ordinary people like Peter, the fisherman; Karol, the wife and mother and grandmother; and Alex, the doctor stand in the face of persecution.

#806 that all the little obstacles and annoyances of everyday life are my training ground if I will only seize them for Kingdom growth.

#807 the fact that although I am one, I am among an army of thousands who will stand in the face of persecution.

#808 my fellow soldiers who understand the price and we won’t have to talk to one another about it, we will just know what we are to do because of the sweet Holy Spirit.

#809 His presence through it all.

With the multitudes this Monday,

Dawn

Of Lice and Men

I came home from work itching and scratching. I had spent the entire shift caring for a woman with head lice. Well, let me qualify that. I spent the evening caring for her after she had had a medicated shampooing and tedious fine combing of the lice and eggs from each strand of her hair. My colleague, Tammy, discovered the creatures at 3:00 in the morning, got an order for the shampoo and proceeded to delouse the woman for an hour while another colleague washed the entire room down, changed and bagged all the linens and then put a contact isolation set-up outside the woman’s door. I took over 12 hours later. About halfway through my shift the woman rang out, “Nurse, I have found another live bug in my hair!” and on it goes…

I have been scratching my head and thinking a lot about lice lately. I was wondering what they have to teach me about being grateful in the Kingdom of God. I remember Betsy ten boom saying to her sister, Corrie, when they were covered with lice as prisoners in the Nazi concentration camps, “Corrie, thank God for the lice. The guards won’t come near us at night for they fear they will get them. Because of the lice, we can have Bible study!”

I am reminded that no matter how my work goes, I am to be thankful. God wants to transform me into the image of His dear son–whatever that takes! Once I affirm that everything that comes my way is part of the transformation process then I would be remiss not to thank God for everything. I want gratitude to be a habit. To establish this habit, I plan to write down the things that are difficult to be thankful for each day and try to journal my feelings about them. My son bought me a Gratitude Journal for Christmas for just this purpose. I was so happy to tell him why I wanted it when he asked me! I am hoping the “writing down” will help me gain a new perspective about the hard eucharisteo, much like Betsy was encouraging Corrie to do in Nazi Germany.

Linking with Ann at Multitudes on Mondays here is a list of some of the hard things I am thankful for this week:

#431 lice at work.

#432 dishonesty at work.

#433 varicose veins that making standing difficult

#434 forgetfulness that makes multi-tasking difficult

#435 my dog that is confused attacking my youngest dog

#436 that my lovely frozen pond melted before my skates could touch it

#437 a 72% on the Civil Service “test” for a new job (not a high score)

#438 my family physician has given up his practice and now my husband and I have no doctor

#439 a manager at work got away with gross mismanagement

#440 colleagues of mine have unjustified poor evaluations in their personnel files

#441 after contemplating Christmas, I now must contemplate Calvary

The list above is my hard eucharisteo this past week. I will reflect on why I can be and am thankful in all these things… tomorrow. I have kept you too long already today. You will come back, won’t you?

The Year of Grace,

Dawn