Not too long ago I made a post entitled "No News is Good News". So yes, dear readers, the fact that posts these days are few and far between is mostly good news.
But I have an internal time goal, and if that goal is met without a noteworthy scary incident, I will give a full accounting of all these non-posted days/weeks. =D
I started EMDR again with a new therapist. My educations is progressing satisfactorily (all As so far). My daughter and I talk almost every day. My son and I definitely talk every day (haha) as he is still home schooling, about to finish his junior year.
My husband and I are doing well, hence the "no news". He is still in EMDR, and it seems to be working very well. He is happy at work. He watches Joel and Kathy on DVD a couple times a week. He works out after work at least three days a week.
Father's Day came and went with no problems. My son, husband and I had a great day together. We went to lunch and then shopping for a Father's Day gift for my husband. We did not show up at my father-in-law's house as he originally ordered. (However we scheduled for a visit next month. This could trigger trouble. I am taking a "wait and see" approach.)
So, there's a little taste of what no news means around here these days. Peace and good will to all, SS
Friday, June 24, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Secular Mission Trip
I am proud to announce that my son is going on a secular mission trip.
There will be no prayer letters going out, though I do help everyone who loves him/me/his family/humanity will pray for him.
There will be no support letters going out; all the money spent will come from our savings and his hard work. I consider it a charitable donation, and part of the vaunted title "tithes and offerings" but there will be no tax deduction. The word church or ministry does not appear on the checks we are writing, so oh well.
If he shares the gospel with anyone while he is there, it will be sincere and Spirit led, as a natural part of the life he will be living as a stranger in a strange land. His faith, as a part of his personality and way of life, will be the only Bible he will take with him everywhere he goes.
The purpose of his trip will be to cater to the needs of "the least of these", the little ones whose angels always appear before the Father in heaven. He is going to honor them with his time, share his skills in English, and treat them with the dignity and sincere interest that Jesus himself has for them.
He will gain no religious credit for going. We have only told family that we were already communicating with regularly. It's a whole new way of caring for the world community than the one with which I have previously been associated. I am very excited for him, and for me.
So for all who pray, he will be living with a host family in a Caribbean nation for the month of July. In the mornings he will work in summer camp, co-teaching with another volunteer wherever they assign him- sports or English. Together he and his teammate will be responsible for ten day campers.
On about half of the afternoons, he will also volunteer in a medical residential facility for special needs kids, in whatever capacity the facility decides is needful. I'm guessing games and stories, but maybe construction. That part of the trip is not defined yet.
On Fridays they will take the summer camp kids on a field trip to cool places they have never been, historical sites and museums and the national zoo.
The unscheduled afternoons he will go to the beach, and have language classes/culture classes in the evenings for all the volunteers. Sundays are spent exclusively with the host family, where I am sure he will get to experience the tribe of Christianity with which his host family is aligned.
So that's the news. He leaves early July, gets back in early August. Pray for him! Pray that he will be useful, and the love of God will clearly show in his character and actions. Pray for his safety, and the safety and learning of all those campers and special needs kids. And pray that this experience will promote good will and understanding between all: host family, camp staff, residential home staff, organization staff, and all those volunteers from English speaking nations.
Thank you internet friends, for all your kindness and good will.
There will be no prayer letters going out, though I do help everyone who loves him/me/his family/humanity will pray for him.
There will be no support letters going out; all the money spent will come from our savings and his hard work. I consider it a charitable donation, and part of the vaunted title "tithes and offerings" but there will be no tax deduction. The word church or ministry does not appear on the checks we are writing, so oh well.
If he shares the gospel with anyone while he is there, it will be sincere and Spirit led, as a natural part of the life he will be living as a stranger in a strange land. His faith, as a part of his personality and way of life, will be the only Bible he will take with him everywhere he goes.
The purpose of his trip will be to cater to the needs of "the least of these", the little ones whose angels always appear before the Father in heaven. He is going to honor them with his time, share his skills in English, and treat them with the dignity and sincere interest that Jesus himself has for them.
He will gain no religious credit for going. We have only told family that we were already communicating with regularly. It's a whole new way of caring for the world community than the one with which I have previously been associated. I am very excited for him, and for me.
So for all who pray, he will be living with a host family in a Caribbean nation for the month of July. In the mornings he will work in summer camp, co-teaching with another volunteer wherever they assign him- sports or English. Together he and his teammate will be responsible for ten day campers.
On about half of the afternoons, he will also volunteer in a medical residential facility for special needs kids, in whatever capacity the facility decides is needful. I'm guessing games and stories, but maybe construction. That part of the trip is not defined yet.
On Fridays they will take the summer camp kids on a field trip to cool places they have never been, historical sites and museums and the national zoo.
The unscheduled afternoons he will go to the beach, and have language classes/culture classes in the evenings for all the volunteers. Sundays are spent exclusively with the host family, where I am sure he will get to experience the tribe of Christianity with which his host family is aligned.
So that's the news. He leaves early July, gets back in early August. Pray for him! Pray that he will be useful, and the love of God will clearly show in his character and actions. Pray for his safety, and the safety and learning of all those campers and special needs kids. And pray that this experience will promote good will and understanding between all: host family, camp staff, residential home staff, organization staff, and all those volunteers from English speaking nations.
Thank you internet friends, for all your kindness and good will.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Missionary Kid Abandonment Centers aka 'boarding schools"
Why on earth do religious workers believe there are special rules, or rather special exemptions, that apply to them? No where in the Bible does it ever once say that there is a lesser standard for people with good religious intentions. In fact, the last time I looked it said they would be "under the greater condemnation", i.e. scrutinized and held to a higher standard.
Religious workers should welcome that scrutiny. They should expect that scrutiny. It should be pretty obvious going in to that career field that if you are going to go claiming God told you to do this or go there or say these words, you will be held to a higher standard.
One of my HUGE beefs with the career field of fundamentalist missionaries is the child abandonment they practiced, nay demanded, because of their high-falutin' airs that their career was more important to Jesus than the hearts of their children.
Or in other words, their obedience to their interpretation of the command "go into all the world and preach the gospel, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you" seemed so grand and noble in their eyes as to exempt them from keeping the command they were supposed to be teaching: love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34).
This same Jesus, who welcomed the little children and told us to do so- this same Jesus who recommended we endeavor to emulate the simple, completely dependent trust of little children (Matthew 18:2, Mark 9:36-37,Mark 10:13-15, Luke 9:47-48, Luke 10:21, Luke 18:15-17)- this same Jesus who warned the disciples to treat children well ("do not despise one of these little ones") because "their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:10-11)- this Jesus of whom the Bible teaches, NEVER commanded or called anyone to practice child neglect and abandonmentso they could be freed up to do religious work.
How do you convince yourself that could even be a possibility?
Pride, pride and more pride about being called to make so great a sacrifice, no doubt.
The only trouble is that it was not their lives they were sacrificing to the call, but their children's lives.
In some cases that would be literal. For most, it was "merely" their spiritual, emotional, and psychological well being. It's pretty easy to sacrifice other people's well-being. It doesn't hurt you much at all, maybe a twinge of conscience now and then.
I have complete compassion for missionary parents duped by their cult leaders into believing that God demanded this sacrifice from them and their children. I have heard of parents crying in anguish over the cruelty of this practice.
But for every missionary parent who still wants to claim they did the right thing, SHAME ON YOU!!
Your children's lives were not yours to sacrifice!
I hear much pro-life noise from the same quarters, about the sacred responsibility of motherhood. Does that only apply to the child in utero? Is not motherhood/parenthood, a lifelong calling and vocation?
Jesus wanted to gather the Jews in Jerusalem under his wings like a mother hen. Why is that maternal instinct missing or stifled in the women who claim to represent Jesus in foreign fields?
God is represented by Jesus as a loving Father. What does that mean if Christian fathers send their children away? That our Father God is also unconcerned with us once we have been alive a few years? Why would any Indian want the white man's "father God" when Christian fatherhood is distant, remote and unconcerned?
And why would any tribal person see God's sacrificing His Son as any big deal? The missionaries, who represent God, don't care for their children much. They send them away as a matter of course. Giving up something you don't care much for is no big deal.
Who thought this practice of separating children from their families "in the name of Jesus" was ever smart? They didn't think too deeply about the issue apparently. The practice of sending their children away cheapened their whole message to the tribal peoples in more than one way.
And the message to their children? Well, that's the worst part of all. We know that in a child psychological development, everything that happens in the world is their doing. It's all their fault, if you will. Logical explanations don't dent this belief in a young child's heart.
These are the sorts of messages that filter through a young MKs heart when he first arrives at boarding school:
My parents sent me away because I'm no good now that I'm older.
The kids in the dorm make fun of my tears and call me names because my feelings are repulsive.
God sent me here because He loves the tribe more than me. I'm just in God's way.
If I complain, God will send the tribe to hell, and it will be my fault.
I'm stupid because I can't get my chores done right.
I hate myself for being so stupid that I am late/in trouble/in the way/unloved.
I just finished Rob Bell's book Love Wins, and mostly the author merely reminds us over and over again of Who Jesus Is. He never says there isn't a hell, though he poses many questions about scripture and what is actually recorded there and he speculates about the nature and duration of hell in light of Who Jesus Is.
But it was Jesus who said that drowning would be preferable to the punishment awaiting those who offend little ones who believe in Jesus. Sounds like hell to me! Yikes!
All those missionary parents made double sure their children believed in Jesus. Too bad they didn't make double sure not to offend them as well.
Religious workers should welcome that scrutiny. They should expect that scrutiny. It should be pretty obvious going in to that career field that if you are going to go claiming God told you to do this or go there or say these words, you will be held to a higher standard.
One of my HUGE beefs with the career field of fundamentalist missionaries is the child abandonment they practiced, nay demanded, because of their high-falutin' airs that their career was more important to Jesus than the hearts of their children.
Or in other words, their obedience to their interpretation of the command "go into all the world and preach the gospel, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you" seemed so grand and noble in their eyes as to exempt them from keeping the command they were supposed to be teaching: love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34).
This same Jesus, who welcomed the little children and told us to do so- this same Jesus who recommended we endeavor to emulate the simple, completely dependent trust of little children (Matthew 18:2, Mark 9:36-37,Mark 10:13-15, Luke 9:47-48, Luke 10:21, Luke 18:15-17)- this same Jesus who warned the disciples to treat children well ("do not despise one of these little ones") because "their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:10-11)- this Jesus of whom the Bible teaches, NEVER commanded or called anyone to practice child neglect and abandonmentso they could be freed up to do religious work.
How do you convince yourself that could even be a possibility?
Pride, pride and more pride about being called to make so great a sacrifice, no doubt.
The only trouble is that it was not their lives they were sacrificing to the call, but their children's lives.
In some cases that would be literal. For most, it was "merely" their spiritual, emotional, and psychological well being. It's pretty easy to sacrifice other people's well-being. It doesn't hurt you much at all, maybe a twinge of conscience now and then.
I have complete compassion for missionary parents duped by their cult leaders into believing that God demanded this sacrifice from them and their children. I have heard of parents crying in anguish over the cruelty of this practice.
But for every missionary parent who still wants to claim they did the right thing, SHAME ON YOU!!
Your children's lives were not yours to sacrifice!
I hear much pro-life noise from the same quarters, about the sacred responsibility of motherhood. Does that only apply to the child in utero? Is not motherhood/parenthood, a lifelong calling and vocation?
Jesus wanted to gather the Jews in Jerusalem under his wings like a mother hen. Why is that maternal instinct missing or stifled in the women who claim to represent Jesus in foreign fields?
God is represented by Jesus as a loving Father. What does that mean if Christian fathers send their children away? That our Father God is also unconcerned with us once we have been alive a few years? Why would any Indian want the white man's "father God" when Christian fatherhood is distant, remote and unconcerned?
And why would any tribal person see God's sacrificing His Son as any big deal? The missionaries, who represent God, don't care for their children much. They send them away as a matter of course. Giving up something you don't care much for is no big deal.
Who thought this practice of separating children from their families "in the name of Jesus" was ever smart? They didn't think too deeply about the issue apparently. The practice of sending their children away cheapened their whole message to the tribal peoples in more than one way.
And the message to their children? Well, that's the worst part of all. We know that in a child psychological development, everything that happens in the world is their doing. It's all their fault, if you will. Logical explanations don't dent this belief in a young child's heart.
These are the sorts of messages that filter through a young MKs heart when he first arrives at boarding school:
My parents sent me away because I'm no good now that I'm older.
The kids in the dorm make fun of my tears and call me names because my feelings are repulsive.
God sent me here because He loves the tribe more than me. I'm just in God's way.
If I complain, God will send the tribe to hell, and it will be my fault.
I'm stupid because I can't get my chores done right.
I hate myself for being so stupid that I am late/in trouble/in the way/unloved.
I just finished Rob Bell's book Love Wins, and mostly the author merely reminds us over and over again of Who Jesus Is. He never says there isn't a hell, though he poses many questions about scripture and what is actually recorded there and he speculates about the nature and duration of hell in light of Who Jesus Is.
But it was Jesus who said that drowning would be preferable to the punishment awaiting those who offend little ones who believe in Jesus. Sounds like hell to me! Yikes!
All those missionary parents made double sure their children believed in Jesus. Too bad they didn't make double sure not to offend them as well.
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