prayer | Ain't Complicated

Ukraine’s People of the Mountains

Among them, the American Anabaptist family found refuge from the Russian military.

Far up the curvy mountain roads, away from the cities and the bustle of life, where the only rushing thing is the winding river that gurgles and babbles over the stones, are little houses built against the steep mountain sides. The people of these mountains are like the countryside they live in, rugged and sturdy. They climb the steep paths with little effort, and their hearts burn with fierce loyalty to their country. Some call them “Gutzuls”, a name for the mountain people of Carpathians.

They live in simple houses and find satisfaction in their prized cows with their bells that roam the mountainside in the summer and eat the rich mountain hay in the winter. They heat their tiny houses with a pechka, a very versatile woodstove. It is upon these pechkas they cook their banosh, traditional corn mush, and it is in the depths of the pechka that they bake their bread. Nearly always you’ll find a kettle of water upon the stove, heating for a cup of tea, a sponge bath, or dish water. Freshly laundered clothes are hung by the pechka where the wood heat chases away the moisture.

The accent of these mountaineers clings thickly to their speech, distinguishing them from the rest of Ukraine’s population. They have a dialect of their own, a whole collection of words that belong exclusively to the mountain Gutzuls. They understand Russian, but rarely condescend to using the language of their enemies. During Soviet times they had been forced to speak it, but now they were free and speak only their mountain dialect. Read it all

Family Flees Russian Invasion in Ukraine

A first-person report of God's grace from long-time residents of Ukraine

The night hours slipped by as we crawled along, stuck in a traffic jam, moving only a few meters at a time. The darkness as we wove our way around potholes and through villages was unnerving. Where were the lighted houses, the occasional lit up store, the other lights that trademark the villages? Blackout, that’s what it was. The thick darkness was a feeble effort at keeping Putin’s troops from spotting villages and towns to bomb. Read it all

Elections and the Elect: The Darkness Deepens But Light Shines On

Be faithful, even if you are fearful. Don't be blind to danger, neither stop looking to Jesus.

This post is not what I envisioned it becoming.

Instead it is mostly unarranged thoughts typed in a mostly “stream of consciousness” fit or two, originally intended for a couple of weeks as threads to be woven with a bunch of others into something to post at Anabaptists. I just don’t have the time. And, frankly, have lost the “zeal” and drive for it as well.

But I put them here and fling them out there because I am deeply, deeply concerned about the state of God’s people in the times we find ourselves.

Some of these things I know to be factual. Others I acknowledge as possibly not rising to more than being mere feelings. Read it all

US State Department Updates Mexico Travel Warning

Security conditions in Sonora and Sinaloa warrant the update

The US Department of State updated its Mexico Travel Warning on Tuesday, August 22, 2017.

The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens about the risk of traveling to certain parts of Mexico due to the activities of criminal organizations in those areas. U.S. citizens have been the victims of violent crimes, including homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery in various Mexican states. This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning for Mexico issued December 8, 2016.

For information on security conditions in specific regions of Mexico, see our state-by-state assessments below. U.S. government personnel and their families are prohibited from personal travel to all areas to which the Department recommends “defer non-essential travel” in this Travel Warning. As a result of security precautions that U.S. government personnel must take while traveling to parts of Mexico, our response time to emergencies involving U.S. citizens may be hampered or delayed.

Read it all

How to Improve the Needy American Missionary

Help him see the treasure in Christ's local earthen vessels.

Before I graduated from high school, I knew I wanted to return to Mexico as a missionary. Yes, return.

My parents had entered missionary service in Mexico when I was less than two months old. Our family left the field when I was almost seventeen years old. A little over five years later, my wife and I joined a pioneering missionary team (led by Dad) going to another area of northwest Mexico. Over the next ten years, Ruby and I had two stints of service totaling some five years on the field. We last left in 1991, expecting to return to service soon. (We didn’t.) The last twenty years I’ve served on our congregation’s Mexico mission board.

I tell you all that to help you understand why a title such as this would grab me by the nose: “What’s Wrong with Western Missionaries?” The author reports on a lesson learned when he put this question to a bunch of believers in some Muslim countries: “What makes a good missionary?”

Finally, with great hesitation, one of the believers looked at me and said, “I don’t know what makes a good missionary, but I can tell you…”

No, I won’t reveal the answer here. 😯 😀

I was quite enthusiastic about the article well before I was done reading it. It motivated me to write my own piece addressing the self-imposed distortion suffered by the self-sufficient missionary. I snatched some snippets from it and put them here as a preview: Read it all

Flowers for Friends Afar

A brief visit to an old gravestone

Flowers in memory of these friends:

Flowers for their children and grandchildren who mourn James’ abrupt departure for the Land where Joan dwells.

Flowers for Orpha too. Perhaps some day you also will see this picture. Your Creator alone knows. We trust Him to do what is best for you at this time. Read it all

Prayer Chewing

An absent son, a present pancake, a father's present

Some folks go prayer walking.

toasted pancake A few minutes ago, I chose to do some prayer chewing. (Why not?)

Our youngest son Andy is on the East Coast somewhere singing with Tapestry Chamber Singers. He likes to eat leftover pancakes, toasted. I needed a late afternoon snack. I opened the fridge. I saw a bag with leftover pancakes from yesterday morning’s breakfast.

I toasted one in his honor. And thought of him. And prayed for him. While I chewed. (It’s what Dads should do.) Read it all