A Catalyst for Hope

I had intended to post another reflection of my trip to Nigeria last week. But my son was very sick. I have had a lot of good intentions of what I wanted to accomplish this Christmas. But some of my good intentions just aren't going to happen. There will be less cards and home made cookies this year but that is okay. I want to be in the moment more and enjoy the holiday with my children. They are growing up so fast! My son Christopher is 13 years old and my daughter Sophia is 12 years old. I miss the time when they were little children. I feel like during that time I took the preciousness of it for granted and had a hard time living in the moment.

I have come to realize how much I love young children. I love the beauty of their innocence. This is what Jesus was explaining when he said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14. I am a leader in a Children's Ministry at my church. It is a ministry for children to have their own age appropriate worship while the adults worship. For our message series in September we encouraged the children in our ministry to help us lead the adult worship by coming on the altar to sing and do hand movements to the ending song of mass. The children enjoyed it so much. I loved their honesty and ability to be free and joyful during the song. It was wonderful to have the children leading the adults!

I also appreciate how Moms are so important to young children. They want to be with us every minute! I remember how difficult this was for me but now I have sweet memories of those times. My strongest memories of Nigeria are of the mothers and children. Moms in Nigeria are with their children every minute. They carry their children on their backs on a sling. At Faith Alive Social Services they have a sewing class. All the moms in the class have their children with them while they take the class. They taught me and other women missionaries how to make the baby sling and carry a baby on our backs. Many moms and their children are alone because of the fathers dying who had AIDS. The men are ashamed to seek medical treatment. There are also many children who are abandoned due to poverty. My missionary team went to visit a state run orphanage and there was not enough help or supplies. There were so many babies just lying in their cribs with no one to hold them. This is why it is so wonderful that Sr. Oresao takes in abandoned orphans and helps young mothers with children. She makes sure they are well taken care of.

The children in Nigeria were very excited to meet us Americans. They would love to just touch us and be with us. They especially loved to touch my blond hair. The children also would raise their hands in the air begging to be picked up. I remember after one support group meeting at Faith Alive how this little boy came running after me putting his arms in the air to be picked up. I picked him up and swirled him around and he was laughing and I remember feeling a special joy of being in the moment. At the support group and prayer meetings at Faith Alive the people worship by raising their hands in the air. I was touched by this because it resembles little children raising their arms up to be held and loved.

All children should be held and loved but this is not how it is in this world, especially where there is much poverty and illness. What the staff told us at Faith Alive is that by Americans helping (either by visiting them or giving donations) we are giving them hope. When they think of how people care enough to be helping all the way across the world it helps them believe God cares, because they believe God is working through us. To them we are catalysts of hope.

Let us pray for children everywhere this Christmas to know they are loved. They ARE all loved by God. The story of Christmas is a beautiful one. Our God loved us so much that he came down to earth to be with us as a vulnerable baby. God's message was hope fulfilled in the birth of Christ and the establishment of his eternal kingdom.

For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

All of us at The Hope for West Africa Foundation would like to thank you for your support. We pray for you and for our partners in Nigeria-The Anawim Home and The Faith Alive Hospital and their families to have a Christmas of joy, hope and peace.

A Catalyst For Joy

I hope you will join us for some of my reflections of my visit to Nigeria this Advent. How can I explain the joy I experienced and the joy I saw in others when I went to Nigeria as a missionary? We usually think of joy as "happiness" that comes from external circumstances. For most of the people I met at Faith Alive Hospital and the Anawim Home, external circumstances are very bad. Yet I saw that a lot of the people there were joyful. I remember how surprised I was by this when I attended my first support group meeting of the patients at Faith Alive. The patients shared stories with one another, prayed together, and sang songs of praise to God. I will never forget the woman that stood up and shared her story thanking the Faith Alive staff for helping her. What was most surprising is that she thanked God for her illness because she said through the crisis of her illness she became closer to God.

The Greek word for joy is chara. It means rejoicing, gladness, enjoyment, bliss and to celebrate. This patient was celebrating her illness because now she felt closer to the Lord! To her being close to the Lord was the most important thing. It brought her great gladness. The patients at Faith Alive believe they are privileged just to be alive, receiving God's grace. The Greek word for grace is charis which means unmerited favor. To these people joy was an absolute assumption in grace from God. This joy did not depend on external circumstances.

As all the Christmas hype begins this season here at home, I pray to be joyful like my Nigerian friends. I watch reports on the news of people actually trampling over one another as they wait here in line at stores to buy merchandise for themselves or presents for others. I realize our economy is not good right now and some of the merchandise is on sale, but this makes me sad. Christmas is not supposed to be like this--to be about external things. It is not supposed to be about buying more and more things. We are supposed to be patiently and peacefully waiting during Advent for the arrival of the wonderful day of our Lord's birthday. Luke 2:10 says, "But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people."

The discovery of Christ brings joy! Chara is the result which comes from the glorious discovery of our Lord and Savior in every circumstance where we wish to find Him. If we chose to we can see Him all around us this season. But He will be in people not things. Our world is frantically seeking happiness in external circumstances. But this happiness never lasts and can not bring true satisfaction. This season can be crazy. Most people I know are really searching for a joy that comes from inside. But they are exhausted by running around shopping for gifts that others really do not need. They have no time to contemplate the true meaning of this holiday.

I hope that our partners at Faith Alive Hospital and the Anawim Home can continue their good work of not only helping to cure sickness, to feed and clothe the poor, but to also help people know the Lord. They do this by selflessly giving their time and talents out of love. What better gift to give at Christmas then to give of ourselves to the less fortunate.

We can not all be missionaries or to be doing the work that Dr. Chris and Sr. Oresao do. But we can HELP them do what they do, by giving only a small donation. It only takes a little to do so much there. We can choose to celebrate this Christmas in a God honoring way. We can find joy on the inside by giving to those in great need. We can buy just one less present and use that money to give to people who do not even have the necessities of life--medical supplies, clothing and food. We can choose to discover Christ in the eyes of women and children who are homeless and sick, like the Bible states truly ,"the least of the least". Let's choose not only to experience joy this Advent, but to be a catalyst for joy to the less fortunate.