waiting

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Peacefully Not Knowing Anything

So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road. – Mark 10:49-52

I thought I had everything figured out. I was full of confidence when I left my house. I told Mary that I was going to visit the families in the “favela” near our apartment. We discovered the place by chance. It was a small community of about fifty families. They seemed friendly and open. I remembered feeling proud of myself, I don’t mean arrogance. It was the kind of pride that one feels before doing something altruistic. These people were lost and forgotten in this gigantic city and I discovered them. As I walked to this place, it felt like I was entering another dimension. The community was hidden under a highway bridge. To get there, I needed to cross a railway track which had trash scattered all over. There was stench from the rotting pile of trash. The municipal sanitation services did not recognize the existence of this community. They just had to deal with the ever growing pile of refuse. The houses were made out of flimsy scrap plywood. There was no running water. There were countless dogs and cats being chased around by countless laughing children. It is not the kind of place where joyous sounds are expected. The place invokes sentiments of abandonment and hardship. However, despite its appearance, the children were still able to find the time and space to laugh and enjoy life.

My first visit was with Dona Francisca. She was about my age. Life had been unfair to her and had made look her older than her actual age. I addressed her as ‘dona’ which is a term of respect in Portuguese. She deserved it. She was sitting outside her home smoking her cigarette while dismantling a discarded radio. She was trying to extract the copper. Her callous hands bore scars from the all injuries she sustained from her work. Mine were smooth and soft. She has been working since dawn and it was late in the evening. She managed to gather enough things to get at least $3. Just outside this place there was bakery where a loaf of bread costs more than that. We live in the most expensive city in South America. The amount she earned would not get her far. However, she knows how to survive with little. I stood there thinking what can I possibly say to this woman. My confidence had slowly dissipated. I wasn’t sure what I could say to this toothless woman who worked all day picking other people’s trash so that she could feed herself and her three daughters.

I didn’t say anything. I kept wondering what I was doing there. Maybe I should have just stayed at home. Then I asked her about her recycling activities. She shared about her day and the places where she went. I was interested and at the same time, I wasn’t. I wanted something more than just a friendly chat with her. I wanted to say something about God’s love and the gospel. However, I just drew a blank. She got done with whatever she was doing. Then she looked up and asked me if I could say a prayer for her and her daughters in their tiny little shack. I thought that this was my chance to feel a little useful. I wanted to say a beautiful prayer but unfortunately nothing spectacular came out. It was just a simple regular prayer. Then she said that there were few more neighbors who asked her if I could stop by their houses and say a prayer for them. I did it. I wasn’t impressed with my prayers but at least I am glad that I did not make a complete fool of myself.

I thought that I did not do enough. Nothing I did made the gospel clear, at least this is what I thought. I wanted these people to know that God loved them. Instead I just said some weak prayers. I went back to this place several times. Eventually our friendship grew stronger. On the Christmas of 1998, they came to our apartment for a festive meal. We invited our other friends too. It was quite an interesting mix of social classes. Dona Francisca and her neighbors were the last to leave. They wanted to take a picture with us to preserve the moment. Shortly after this, we were abruptly forced to leave Brazil, Dona Francisca got all her neighbors to put their money together and bought a t-shirt for me. I did not feel like I deserved it but kept it for a long time. I will always remember them. They are part of my eternal fabric. Several years later, when we returned to Brazil, we visited them. They were genuinely happy to see us. They said that we must really love them because we came back to see them.

The mistake I made was that I thought I had something to do with making the gospel powerful and meaningful. As if it was something within my capabilities to do. I learned a lifelong lesson sitting there with Dona Francisca. Instead of trying to be a beacon of the gospel, I should just let the gospel shine through my life. Our good news is not a bunch of words or a doctrine. He is a person. Our words can’t do justice to express the true nature of this Person. He has to manifest Himself through us. His presence gives people the courage to ask for the thing that they desire greatly. Dona Francisca did not need money or assistance from me. She knew how to navigate in this unjust and difficult world. She wanted to know if she was still remembered by God. She wanted to know if her humble household was a place where we could call out to Him. I am glad that I at least had the wisdom to keep my mouth shut and allow Francisca to say what she wanted. I could have ruined it by trying to cover my inadequacy with artificial solutions to problems that she had never asked for my help for.

It always amazes me when I read the gospel story about the blind man. It is not the miracle that impresses me. It is the fact that Jesus never assumed anything. He asked the man what he wanted. I would have thought that the answer was obvious. However, Jesus is a not fool because only a foolish person thinks that he knows what the other person needs in this life. We don’t know anything about what the other feels and senses in their body. Jesus sets the standard for us: never assume anything. It is good for us to humble ourselves and realize that we don’t know what the other person needs. Jesus asked what the blind man wanted. He got the answer. The blind man became his follower for life.

Dona Francisca just wanted me to pray for her so did the rest of her neighbors. Prayers in their household are symbolic for them that God is with them. Danyel asked if we could take him to a public library. Something that he could just do on his own, however, he wants to go with us. This was his way of knowing that he is not alone and can go to places that make him feel insecure. Gigi needed to get her documents. She asked for our help. It was something simple and she could do it on her own. However, she wanted to walk to this place holding Mary’s hand like a little child holding her mother’s hand. She wanted some motherly love.

The blind man yelled out to Jesus even though many thought that he should be silent. He did not care. He sensed the presence of Jesus and it gave him the confidence to ask. It takes a while for me to quieten my spirit to allow Jesus to shine through. Many times I am the greatest obstacle to the gospel. I think that I need to make the gospel look wonderful and powerful. In reality, all I need to do is to allow Jesus to shine while I just become small and invisible.

I am glad that I was in the “favela” even though I felt like a fish out of water. It was a reality that was completely different to my reality and I realized that I had no concrete answers to any of the problems. In the streets today, I feel the same way. The difference is that I am learning to be at peace with not knowing the answers. I just have to allow the Spirit of Jesus to come through my life. His presence will give the people the confidence to share what they desire. Until this happens, it is good to be just silent and wait.

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Waiting for The Embrace of a Mother

And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”-Mark 1:7-8

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the screen. We were waiting anxiously for our numbers to appear. All we have had so far were numbers. We started this process with Dreyson a week ago. He just turned 18 and wanted to have all his documents. You are nobody in this society unless you have your documents. Many children and teens are buried in unmarked graves because they did not have a piece of paper with them when they met their unfortunate end. Now they are forgotten in death as they were in life. However, it was not death that inspired Dreyson to get his documents. He wanted to embrace life. He wanted to change his story. He thought that the first step is to be recognized officially by the government that he is someone. He asked our help to do it. It had brought us here to this cold lifeless room waiting for his number which finally appeared on the screen. I walked with Dreyson to the counter and got him settled. Then I went back to our seat and waited.

It is hard to believe that this young teenager is legally an adult. He still looks and acts like a child. He is not childish but he is not an adult. We met him when he was 14. He was extremely shy and insecure. He wanted me to know his name and the next day he asked me if I remembered it. This was our first contact. Over the years, our conversations with him were quite erratic. He was hardly sober. He sniffed lots of paint thinner and whatever substance that was available to him. Despite this, we still managed to spend some quality time with him whenever there was an opportunity. Recently, he had a conversation with someone from a church and the person challenged him to take baby steps to leave the streets. He took the advice to heart. He asked for our help to navigate through the bureaucratic nightmare to get all his documents. This was his first step.

We did need to wait long this time. Dreyson came up to us and told us that he was done. He is registered now. However, he did not have any documents in his hand. He had another slip of paper with another number instead. He asked us to keep it for him. It said that his documents will be ready in 12 days. We have to wait again.

On our walk back, Dreyson shared his dreams with us. He said that he wants to become an interstate bus driver. He liked to idea of driving and traveling to different cities. His father had taken them across the country before. It was perhaps the fondest memory he has of his time with his father. They hitchhiked for the most part. Ever since then he was always interested in traveling. We had many conversations together about our travels. It was wonderful to hear from a young man who hardly shared any of his dreams before. He asked us what he needed to become a commercial driver. He wants to take the necessary steps to achieve his goal. He said that he did not want to continue living in the streets for the rest of his life. He wants something different. I am glad that he is thinking along this line and we felt especially honored that he wants to include us in his journey towards a new beginning. He also told us that he had recently wrote a letter and wanted to show it to us. It was scribbled on a stained paper but it was one of the most beautiful things written by a teenager living in the streets. It was a letter to his mother.

Dreyson came to the streets with his younger brother, Danyel. I wrote about the latter before. He suffered an accident and broke his leg. We visited him in the hospital during this time. Unfortunately, his mother only came to see her son after five days. Initially we were mad at her. Then she finally came. She hardly hugged him. She did not even ask anything about the accident. Throughout her time with her son, she appeared to be a little distant. However, our initial anger subsided when we met her. Unloved and neglected people can also have children. It was obvious that she had never received love in her life. It was also clear that she was giving all she had to her children even though it wasn’t much.

In his letter, Dreyson wrote that he was sorry that he and Danyel are living in the streets. He said that she deserved better than this. He did not want her to worry about them. He wanted her to know that he appreciated her. He thought that she was a wonderful person. He cherished her embrace and affections. He wanted her to know that these things were important to him. The letter went to describe a mother that was nothing like the woman we met. He did not want too much from his mother. He just wanted her hugs and affection.

Dreyson had spent two years straight without going home even for the holidays. I remembered asking him if he missed his home at that time. He did not say anything. His father only came looking for him after two years. Since then, he would try to go home for a few days but he always returns to the streets almost immediately. He goes home looking for something that perhaps does not exist. It doesn’t take him long to realize this and it drives him back to the streets. Now, he wants to be someone in the world; a bus driver has a place in society. He wants a place in this world. It is not a coincidence that he wrote a letter to his mother at this precise moment. He is feeling hopeful. He wants to connected to the first person who gave him the sensations of being loved. He wants to be loved and recognized.

John said, in the gospel verse quoted above, that Jesus will baptize us with the Spirit whereas he can only baptize with water. I have read this verse a hundred times before but listening to Dreyson’s letter has given me a fresh understanding of John’s proclamation. Dreyson is waiting for several things in his life. His documents, his dreams of becoming a driver and his desire to leave the streets; all these things are attainable if he is willing to wait for them. They might introduce minor changes in his life. He might leave the streets. This is a strong possibility in his case. One day, he might have a steady income. He might be financially and physically better than he is presently. It is possible to achieve these things without any reliance on God. We don’t need the gospel for these things.

The people who came to John the Baptizer were most likely better off than Dreyson in terms of wealth and security. Yet, they were not satisfied with their lives. They wanted something more. In this sense, Dreyson has something in common with them. His letter to his mother revealed something more profound about Dreyson. Something that John the Baptizer saw in those coming to him. They were seeking for something more substantial. He knew that he couldn’t give them what they needed. We cannot give Dreyson what he truly needs. He wants to be connected in a profound manner with Life in its fullness. The best way he could describe what he wants is to use the symbolic gesture of the embrace of his mother. It is an image of being united with Love. His mother is not capable of giving what Dreyson yearns for. Neither are we. The people who came to John the Baptizer came with the same expectation. They wanted to be connected with Love in a way that was beyond what John could provide. However, there is hope. This yearning is not something that cannot be satisfied. It prepares us to look for the only One who can touch us in our innermost being. Our task is to follow John’s example. We are the ones who help Dreyson and anyone else that God puts in our path to see this Hope that is coming. We cannot make it happen. It is not a formula or a doctrine that Dreyson desires to encounter. He wants to encounter the embrace of Love. We can only prepare him by letting him know that it is possible to encounter Life in its fullness. John baptized with water. It is symbol of purification. It is an act of helping people discern the true source of life. We will give Dreyson help with his documents and whatever help we can provide to guide him in discerning that true Love is found in the One who can nourish our souls with the Love that gives us the zeal for Life.

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Waiting for the Unpredictable Bridegroom

Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed…..But the wise replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’-Matthew 25:1-12

Waiting is about having a lamp in one hand and oil in the other.

We need the Light to recognize the Bridegroom. We need to know who we are waiting for exactly. The oil is to remind ourselves that He does not come when we expect Him. We need to persevere even nothing seems to be happening. He cannot be domesticated to follow our timetable. He does not come at the time we want Him to show up. It would be foolish to think that we know how and when the bridegroom acts. All we know is that He will act and we have to wait for Him to do it. If we take the initiate and act on His behalf before He comes because we lose patience…then we might end up doing something foolish. We might find ourselves being locked out of a banquet feast.

We never had any profound conversation with Wanderson before. He is an intelligent young man but he is always high on something. Having meaningful interactions was always a challenge. Perhaps drugs is a way of escaping such connections. Whenever he was somber, he lived in a fantasy world. He would tell us that his parents are wealthy people that have many homes all around the city. He told of birthdays and Christmases that were stuff of American TV. It is difficult to imagine that any of this could remotely be true. However, we have been surprised before. Still, I would say that it is our strong opinion that this is mainly make-believe on his part. Nevertheless, we listen to his fantastic tales because it is important for him to have these stories to tell. They help him cope with the harsh reality and loneliness of street life. Besides his incredible stories, we never knew anything about Wanderson. He is a private person. He has a barrier between him and the rest of the world. He is afraid of something. Maybe he is waiting for the right moment to open up. We need to wait for him with our lamps ready and some oil on the side. If anyone is going to open up the heart of this young man, it will definitely be the Bridegroom.

Someone that was helping Wanderson with his documents came up to him and told him that the police were looking for him. We have known him since he was 13. He never was caught for doing anything illegal. The criminal life did not attract him. The person told him that he needed to go to the police station to clarify matters. I was a little confused. Then things became clearer. He is not wanted for a crime. He was reported as a missing person. I asked him if it was his family that made the report. He was sure that it wasn’t his family. We left it at that. He wasn’t in the mood to talk about it.

A few days later, the subject came up again. He revealed that he spent most of his early life in an orphanage. He did not like it there and escaped. He thought it likely that they reported him as missing. Then, he said that it could be his godmother. She was the only person he could think of that would be concerned enough to look for him. For some reason, he wanted to talk this particular day. He was somber. He put away his paint thinner and just wanted to chat with us. Some boy came and asked him for some paint thinner to sniff. Wanderson gently rebuked him and said that he was having a conversation with us. He did not want to be disturbed. I told him that his godmother couldn’t be the one because she wasn’t next of kin. I told him that we cannot go to the police to look for him if anything had happened to him because we are not his next-of-kin. The police will only act when it is a family member. We have to show some documents proving we have custody of him like the orphanage. As I explained this, Wanderson turned around and said, “Well, my father died when I was young so you can adopt me officially.” He smiled as he said this. He did not mean it literally. He likes his freedom too much but it doesn’t mean that these were empty words. They meant something important to him and us as well.

Before we left for the day, Wanderson asked if he could accompany us halfway to our home. We accepted his offer. It was the first time anyone had wanted to do this. We talked about nothing of interest. It wasn’t about the conversation. It was being there with each other. He wanted to be with us alone. For us, it was our invitation to a wedding banquet. The bridegroom has finally arrived. Before we parted ways, he gave us a hug. This was the first time too. Maybe he is not one for deep conversation. He might not be someone who is able to articulate all his thoughts and feelings. However, it doesn’t mean that the Bridegroom cannot come into the life of this young man. I am thankful that the Light of the gospel helped us to see His presence in this young man’s life. I grateful that we had the sense to bring enough oil. It was a long wait but the banquet was worth it.

 

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Necessary Economy

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.-Luke 16:10

Today was not a good day. No one got hurt, sick or was ill-treated. Nothing happened that discouraged us. There just simply no one in the streets. Well, there were lots of homeless adults but not one of our children or teens were in the streets. We sat and waited for them for three hours and no one showed up. I tried to fill our time with reading the Bible and Mary attempted to draw something. We thought that we should do something at least. We wanted to feel like we were not wasting our time. There was an internal pressure within us to make every moment count. However, it did not work. Waiting and doing absolutely nothing made us feel a little restless and aimless. There is no cure for this. We just have to face it head on and deal with it.

It was different yesterday. We wished today was just like yesterday.

The children and teens were waiting for us at the steps when we arrived yesterday. We almost did not even have time to say our customary prayers before work. They were happy and eager to see us. Some of them came to us and asked us to do some activity with them. Ruan whom we haven’t seen for weeks was there and he sat next to us and told us all about his new pet. It was a puppy that someone had given to them. Then Caio came over. We have seen Caio around in the past few days but he is always on the move. He hardly stops to talk. However, yesterday was different. He sat down next to me and just started talking. He had read something about Holy Communion and wanted to talk about it. We asked about Bruno and then almost magically he just showed out of nowhere. He had a bunch of English words that he wanted Mary to translate. There were teens who wanted first aid to be done. Many wanted to tell us something interesting that happened to them. Some had questions about God and life in general. There were so many children and teens wanting our attention that our heads begin to spin in a good way. We felt like we were accomplishing something. It was a good feeling.

Caio asked me to read from John 6 about the sacrament of the Body and Blood. He had read something about the Lord’s supper stating that the Catholics confused the biblical text on John 6. Caio had read that the Holy Communion was really an invention of the Catholic Church. Even though he is from an evangelical background that doesn’t believe in the sacraments, he felt that the Holy Communion was something spiritual and mystical and not a mere doctrinal invention of the church. Together we read John 6:56 from my Bible,

He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him.

He said that whenever he read these words, he felt in his spirit that the communion is something more than a mere ritual or remembrance. He thinks that participating in the Communion somehow connects him with Christ in a real way. The best I could do at this point was to listen to his reflections. He wasn’t asking any questions so I wasn’t expected to give any answers. He wanted me to just listen. He said that he went to a church where the communion was done in a haphazard manner and he did not stay till the end. He felt that it was disrespectful. Whenever he goes to church, he goes for the reverence. He needs this sense of reverence that is lacking in his life. Then he remained silent. I did not try to fill this empty space in our interactions with useless opinions. I sat in silence with him. After a while he smiled and asked if we could play a game.

At this point, Alex walked up to us and told us that an elderly man had fallen and hurt himself badly. We asked what happened. He just said that old people tend to fall and we need to help them. He had tried to console the man but there were too many people around. As he was saying this, an ambulance passed us. It most likely carried the old man within. Bruno was also asking questions about the Bible and faith as well and Mary was trying to answer his questions in between playing a game of Uno. Bruno likes the comfort of playing a game while asking some serious questions. All in all it was a great day. We did not get the chance to speak with all the children and teens and we ended staying longer than we usually do. However, today was different. We might be going home at our usual time.

“Nothing is wasted in God’s economy.” An Anglican priest once shared these words of wisdom with me. Maybe it is a quote from someone famous; I don’t know. These words were spoken after he spent his time listening to me. They were his words to my soul. I was sharing a difficult moment in my parish ministry where I felt that I was doing and achieving absolutely nothing. I was doubtful about my ministry and I wasn’t sure if the congregation were benefitting from the things I did. Somewhere his simple words found a permanent home my heart. He encouraged me to focus on the gospel and not to worry if anything I did appeared to be fruitless. The same church where I felt useless is one of the churches where I can truly say that I had a successful ministry. It never grew leaps and bounds but I learned to become one with the church. We started out being worlds apart. It was a rural church in a small city in the Northeast of Brazil where they never had a foreign presence for centuries and I was a full-bred big city foreigner who loves big city culture. Superficially, it looked like a perfect recipe for a disaster. I decided to continue to wait even I felt useless. I learned to trust God to “waste” my time. This was actually the missing element that was needed for us to grow into being One; the willingness to “waste” my time.

Sitting at the steps and waiting is difficult. We feel obligated to be always doing something to justify our existence but God does not need us to do this. He created us. This is alone justifies our existence. We exist because God wants us to be. The salvation of the children and teens is not dependent on us. God loves these little ones and He will reach out to them regardless of whether we are there or not. He does not need us to save these little ones. He gives us the privilege to participate in His work. It is a gift from God for us just sit there and wait like the Good Father sat and waited for His prodigal son to return home. God calls us to wait with him for these children and teens. If we don’t do it, then He will call someone us to do it. God wouldn’t lose anything but we would have lost something precious in our lives. Therefore, it is a good thing to just sit and wait because it is participating in what God does all the time. It is an essential part of being a representative of God’s love.

I still wish everyday was like yesterday. This is just wishful thinking. Besides, I won’t appreciate and value the talks and openness of the children and teens if I don’t have days like today. Waiting and doing absolutely nothing makes me treasure the moments when something happens. The children on their part are happy finding us sitting on the steps waiting just for them. On a different occasion, we overheard Gabriel, one of the younger teens, divulging to another that we had spent hours waiting and looking for them. He was clearly impressed. It means something for people in general when they find someone just waiting and willing to “waste time” doing nothing until they come.

I know that we are going to have more days like yesterday but they are not going to happen without days like today. If we are not willing to wait, then nothing will happen. It is not easy but it is definitely not wasted time. Valuable and precious things happen to those who are willing to wait.

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Waiting for the Right Time

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”- Mark 1:15

Recently, I watched a youtube instructional video on playing the classical guitar. The very first instructions were to just hold the guitar without playing its strings. This was quite hard because my first instinct is to start strumming on the strings. Just as I was trying to resist the temptation to do this, the instructor said that the problem with many students is that they want to play immediately when they grab the guitar. He seemed to be looking at me when he said this. According to him, this impatience leads to bad habits and poor playing. He emphasized that it was essential for us to know and understand the instrument before rushing into playing it. We were instructed to feel the strings and then to think about what we are going to do and how we are going to do it mentally. Once we get all the steps figured out mentally, only then are we ready to begin. It doesn’t mean that we are going to play beautifully right away. It just means we are ready to begin.

Jesus waited for thirty years before he preached his first sermon on the Kingdom of God. Throughout his ministry, Jesus emphasized in subtle as well as explicit ways the importance of waiting. He did not just wait passively. He submitted Himself to the process of waiting. When he was baptized against the protest of John the Baptist, Jesus said that it was the appropriate way for the time being. John was right; Jesus should be baptizing him instead. However, the waiting process demanded otherwise. Waiting can mean doing things that apparently make no sense to those around us. Jesus spent a bulk of his life as a carpenter. It is strange that there is no explicit reference to his experiences as a carpenter in his teaching. In fact, it seems like they were uneventful years. Why didn’t he start his ministry earlier and die on the Cross at a later age?

Jesus’ ministry did not end at the Cross. The Cross was the beginning of a new phase of His eternal ministry. It marked His transition from prophet and teacher to High Priest and King. As High Priest, He represents not only God to us but also He represents Humanity to God. His qualification to do this comes from the years He spent experiencing all the ups and downs of a regular human being. I guess being a carpenter is as normal as you can get during his time. Regular human life is full of challenges and struggles and everyone has their share of suffering. Jesus is not a High Priest of exceptionally complex cases. He is the High Priest of regular human beings in regular human situations.

He is a High Priest that truly understands human predicament and yet He was able to transcend it. He gives the mundane things in life a new meaning. They are not wasted experiences because they can point us to something that is eternal. Jesus saw that spending thirty years as a carpenter was important. It gave Him the tools to preach the Kingdom of God effectively to the world because He was able to see eternity in the mundane things. If we are unable to see the eternal present in the mundane things, then we won’t be able to preach the Kingdom of God effectively.

‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’-Matthew 25:23

We spend hours in our ministry apparently doing mundane things. Our children and teens are so detached from regular human society that doing these things with them brings them back into human society. However, it doesn’t just end there. These times spent with the children prepare the way for us to preach the Kingdom of God. Most important, they prepare us to discern the Eternal Presence of God in the mundane.

Our time of waiting is a time of training our eyes to see the eternal presence in the mundane.

It is easy to miss the importance of doing these mundane things in preparation to preach the gospel. One of the frustrating things for us is perhaps walking for miles searching for these children and teens. It is even worse on the days when we don’t find them. It is easy to feel as if we have wasted our time. However, occasionally some complete stranger comes to us and tells us that he has seen us walking around looking for the children and he wants to know what motivates us to do such things. The only answer we can give is that the Kingdom of God is here and we are here to testify of its goodness.

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