Loving God with Everything

Loving God with Everything
Category: Religion and Philosophy

My cousin Amanda asked me to write a letter for the family Christmas program since I won't get to be there this year. My assigned topic...Loving God with All your Heart, Soul, and Strength.

You know, the first thing I thought when I read the email from Amanda that said she wanted me to write something about loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength…and, I quote, "how you feel you are doing this in your life or a time you feel you did this" …I thought, "What makes me worthy to write something like that?" Have I ever really loved God with all my heart, soul and strength? So I started thinking about it…and when you pray for self-discernment… be careful because you just might start feeling pretty wretched.

I had to ask…what does it really look like to love God like that? What does the Bible say? Well, Jesus said in John 13:34-35

-"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Well, here we go. I do that don't I? I served dinner to some kids in the dump a few weeks ago. I bought Christmas presents for some girls in troubled situations. I fixed an old widow's toilet yesterday. I'm earning my keep, right?

Let's see what Luke 17:7-10 says about that.

-7 "Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, `Come at once and sit down at table'? 8 Will he not rather say to him, `Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink'? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, `We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

Looks like I'm back at zero.

In Mark 9:37 Jesus said,

-"Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me."

So receiving children is loving God, right? Well, great! I do that all the time! Still sitting at zero, based on Luke 17, but at least I receive children, so I must be loving God a little.

Luke 6:30

-"Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back."

Oooops. Now I'm at negative 18, and that's just yesterday after church. Pretty easy to receive the ones I know, or the ones I go to receive…but the ones at every intersection that come up asking for money just get to be a bother. And the adults are even worse…stinky and drunk. I shouldn't give them money right. They'll just get stinkier and more drunk.

That's not what Jesus said though.

Matthew 5:42

-"Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you."

Matthew 25:40

-"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."

So apparently yesterday I wagged my finger at Jesus and told Him not to wash my windshield because I didn't want to give him 6 cents. And the day before that I didn't give him a ride because he was too high on glue (he was only 12 that day.)

So I was thinking about writing this thing for the family play and realizing that I don't know what it is really like to truly love God with everything if I can't even love people on the street just a little.

Then I heard a song on the radio called "De Tal Manera."

It goes like this (It's translated later.)

De tal manera me amo
Que su vida no escatimo
Hasta el final el se entrego
Y a la muerte fue porque me amo

De tal manera me amo
Que no hay forma en que poder pagar
El precio de su gran amor
Pero toda mi alma quiero dar

Por su amor yo viviré
De su amor yo cantare
Con mi Jesús caminare
Porque el me amo a mí

Por su amor yo viviré
De su amor yo cantare
Con mi Jesús caminare
Porque el murió por mi
Le seguiré.

Which translates to…

Of such a way he loved me
That his life did not curtail
Until the end I am delivered
And to the death he went because he loved me

(Basically meaning His life alone was not enough to save me…it took his death, too...as I understand it)

Of such a way he loved me
That there is no form that I can repay
The price of his big love
But all my soul I want to give

For his love I will live
Of his love I will sing
With my Jesus I will walk
Because he loved me

For his love I will live
Of his love I will sing
With my Jesus I will walk
Because he died for me

I will follow him.

And that's when I realized that it doesn't matter that I don't love Him perfectly.

It doesn't matter that I don't love everybody else perfectly.

I am worthy to write about loving God.

…because He loved me perfectly enough to forget my imperfections.

And that's why I chose to follow Him.

Love you all and Merry Christmas,

Eli

Butterflies

Here is a praise. We had the meeting with Pastor Manuel today, and I had mentioned in the original version of my last blog that there was a possibility that we could not fully trust him and I had requested prayer about the situation and our meeting with him. It turns out that everything was just a misunderstanding due to some work being arranged that spanned 4 people and 2 languages...so he really is trustworthy after all. He also asked that we all made sure to clear his name with anyone we spoke with about the situation beforehand, so I needed to post an apology to honor that in case you read the original version before I edited out that part.

Amazing sign of how creation speaks to the majesty of God...as we were all going to the meeting, the air around Los Cedros and the surrounding area was filled with literally tens of thousands of white butterflies (I drove through them for at least 2 kilometers and the school grounds where we met were covered in them). I saw it to be a sign of peace and restoration.

Final del Año Update

Here is a summary of what has been going on lately.

I moved again. Now I live in Los Cedros (20 km outside Managua). I'm on a six acre banana farm where my shop and school is. I have a little casita out front that will be the office and showroom eventually too. Right now it is entirely unfinished. I just have a hammock, no electricity, and I have to walk about 100 yards for running water. Most of my expenses will go to making it livable. I love it though! It feels like what I felt led to come here for is finally starting. I am working with a group called Trinity Development. They are pastors and businessmen from both Atlanta and Managua that had the idea that to change a community you needed to place a thriving business in the area and become part of that community (that way you aren't just giving from the outside, but helping change from within), then educate the people of how to work in your business. So it is a school and a cabinet mill. We will be offering classes on marriage, finance, and English in addition to the carpentry classes. We will also do a half day community service project once a week with the students/employees. As of right now we have all the tools in place, and hope to take our first students at the end of January when school starts back here. We have already done entrance exams and orientation, and we plan to do a round 2 of that next week.

The players of Trinity that need prayer are:
Greg Elam (President)
Mike Elmer (Operations Manager)
Roger Keeling (Silent Partner from Atlanta...but lives here, he has developments on the Pacific Coast that are going to be clients)
Armando ? (Personnel Manager (That's the best title I can think of for him...Armando is a God send. He does a little of everything and is good at it.)
Jorge ? (Nica Silent Partner)
Ben (Nica Silent Partner)
They hired an accountant while I was in Costa Rica last week, and I haven't met her yet.
and me (Shop Manager/Teacher)

also we have been working with local pastor (Pastor Manuel) for lots of things. This is our most urgent prayer need, as we have a meeting with him tomorrow about his future role with us. Also we are having the mayor over for lunch and a facility tour tomorrow.

For me the last couple weeks have been mostly filled with arranging tool purchases and material suppliers, shop setup, researching candidates, and translating meetings for Greg.

In other news. I still try to make myself available to do the maintenance at Casa Havilah, and try to visit the girls at least once a week, but that has become more difficult since I moved, and my Land Rover spent a couple weeks in the shop. I have been giving my tithes to help buy the food for the girls there.

And the last thing was I spent my Saturday afternoons volunteering with the scholarship program, they are now finished for the year. A praise from that though, is that Romolo got saved a couple weeks back! He is like a different person, you can see it in his eyes. And he and Miguel have moved in with Pastor Ramon, who is going to lead a Verbo church plant in La Chureca. They are really thriving in such a healthy environment...so big ups to God on that one!

That's kinda the rundown.

Much Love,
Eli

El mismo como mi último blog, pero en español. (This is the Spanish version of the same blog that is below...read that one if you prefer English.)

Sé que yo debería blog más sobre mi vida regular aquí, pero este es una petición de oraciones importante de un amigo. Un amigo que era el padre de un querido amigo mío falleció de un ataque cardíaco ayer. Este es la petición de oraciones de correo electrónico que he estado enviando.

Oye amigos... pensamiento yo expediría esta petición de oraciones. Sólo me puse otro correo electrónico de Josh y él dijo que ellos realmente necesitan los oraciones. Él y Caleb vuela atrás con el cuerpo, y una pareja que otros amigos son yendo a hacer preparativos para la materia que ellos van a tener dejar aquí en Nicaragua. La familia Izdepski se ha hecho amigos íntimos míos, ellos han estado implicados con derechos de trabajadores y a seguridad de trabajo resulta en América Central durante 20 años más o menos. Bob era a el buceador scuba profesional (retirado de plataformas petroleras), y tenía un verdadero pasión para los buzos de langosturas Miskito. Él puso el primer los primeros auxilios de buzo y cámaras de descompresión se centran en la costa del este hace aproximadamente 15 años.Él trabajaba actualmente en la seguridad química para plátano y trabajadores de caña de azúcar y para empleo alternativo para los buzos que habían sido paralizados. En los meses de pareja pasados, Bob y su los hijos habían estado usando la casa en la cual alquilo como un campamento base de clases sus viajes alrededor de América Central. Esto era un verdadero privilegio de ponerse
conocerlo en el tiempo corto que hice.

Josh Izdepski y yo estábamos juntos en el esfuerzo de apollo después del huracán Felix, y Josh, Caleb, y Bob era todos los compañeros de habitación a ratos míos junto con trabajadores y equipos de película que incluyen a Jason Glaser y el activista nicaragüense Juan Alejandro Samuel. Había un precio contra la cabeza de Bob en ciertas áreas de América Central porque él era tan valiente con su trabajo para traer un ambiente de trabajo cómodo y seguro a América Latina que él costó gobiernos y corporaciones grandes millones de dólares ... todos en nombre de hacer la cosa derecha. A Bob le gustó guardar su paradero y modelos desconocidos, y yo hacía todo lo posible guardar mi casa una casa segura para su familia y equipos. Muchas mañanas que yo despertaría con ellos organizando sus reuniones en el pórtico o en la cocina sobre lo que el siguiente movimiento debería levantar conciencia, fondos, o simplemente tomar medidas para ayudar "el afectado." (Miran el remolque aquí www.affectedmovie.com) Bob era Christian fuerte, como son sus dos hijos que conozco. Bob era la clase de Christian que hizo lo que era correcto, no importa el coste, y encontró a la gente donde ellos eran. Él podría hacerse todas las cosas a todos los hombres, y a menudo tuvo que hacer esto para el bien su propia seguridad y para aquella de su familia. En toda su cautela, hay ironía que él murió de causas naturales. Pero en el tiempo corto que yo lo conocía, pienso que yo sabía que él bastante bien sabía que esto cabía para él para pasar al Señor en su América Central querida, yendo de excursión con dos de sus hijos y algunos queridos amigos. Los amigos y los hijos que son más que capaces de aguantar su antorcha.

Mi petición de oraciones es para la fuerza para Josh y Caleb y la familia Izdepski entera. También para Jason Glaser y Steve (?) los dos amigos que dirigen y y filman la película con ellos. Jason y Steve toman la delantera graciosamente en arreglos que se manejan de Costa Rica y les ayudaré a finalizar arreglos en Nicaragua. Este es la segunda muerte trágica que Jason y Steve han atestiguado en tan muchas semanas. Ellos necesitan oraciones para la paz tanto como alguien.

Mucho amor en Cristo,
Ilay

Pray for the Izdepski Family

I know I should blog more about my regular life here, but this is an important prayer request from a friend. A friend who was the father of a dear friend of mine passed away of a heart attack yesterday. This is the email prayer request that I have been sending.

Hey guys...thought I would forward this prayer request. I just got
another email from Josh and he said they really need prayer. He and
Caleb are flying back with the body, and a couple other friends are
going to make arrangements for the stuff that they are going to have
to leave behind here in Nicaragua. The Izdepski family has become
close friends of mine, they have been involved with workers rights and
job safety issues in Central America for 20 years or so. Bob was a
professional scuba diver (retired from oil rigs), and had a real
passion for the Miskito lobster divers. He put the first
decompression chambers and diver first aid centers on the east coast
about 15 years ago. He was currently working on chemical safety for
banana and sugar cane workers and for alternative employment for
divers who had been paralyzed. In the last couple months, Bob and his
sons had been using the house that I rent as a base camp of sorts in
their travels around Central America. It was a real privilege to get
to know him in the short time that I did.

Josh Izdepski and I were together in the relief effort after hurricane Felix, and Josh, Caleb, and Bob were all off-and-on roommates of mine along with workers and film crews that include Jason Glaser and Nicaraguan activist Juan Alejandro Samuel. There was a price on Bob's head in certain areas of Central America because he was so bold in his work to bring a comfortable and safe working environment to Latin America that he cost governments and large corporations millions of dollars...all in the name of doing the right thing. Bob liked to keep his whereabouts and patterns unknown, and I was doing my best to keep my house a safe house for his family and crews. Many mornings I would wake up with them staging their meetings on the porch or in the kitchen about what the next move would be to raise awareness, funds, or simply take action to help "the affected." (Watch the trailer here www.affectedmovie.com ) Bob was a strong Christian, as are his two sons that I know. Bob was the kind of Christian that did what was right, no matter the cost, and met people where they were. He could become all things to all men, and often had to do that for the sake his own safety and for that of his family. In all his cautiousness, there is irony that he died of natural causes. But in the short time that I knew him, I think I knew him well enough to know that it was fitting for him to pass to the Lord in his beloved Central America, while hiking with two of his sons and some dear friends. Friends and sons that are more than capable of bearing his torch.

My prayer request is for strength for Josh and Caleb and the whole Izdepski family. Also for Jason Glaser and Steve (?) the two friends directing and filming the movie with them. Jason and Steve are graciously taking the lead in handling arrangements from Costa Rica and I will be helping them finalize arrangements in Nicaragua. This is the second tragic death that Jason and Steve have witnessed in as many weeks. They need prayers for peace as much as anyone.

Much love in Christ,
Eli

Hurricane Felix

This is a long story very short, but the storm didn't hit us directly...it destroyed the Autonomous Atlantic Coast Region though. (It's like a country within a country). Nobody was doing anything to help...not even the Red Cross or government, so four friends and I called a shrimping company and started a supply chain for water and food. We were the first supply to hit the villages four days after the storm. The US Navy search and rescue was getting lists from us about what to do and where to go. Since we were the only ones that got anything done in a timely manner (you would not believe how many answered prayers that took), the President of the Autonomous Region has put us in charge of coordinating the relief effort. So I'm flying back up Tuesday to help him and to deliver more supplies. More adventure in one week than a lifetime should have. Things like buses sinking in Rivers and having to jump off and rescue the women and children...you know, that old chestnut.

Flat Tires and Garbage Fires

After having been here for three weeks I have changed 3 tires...and I don't even have a vehicle. I went with my friends Carlos and Melissa tonight to Pilar's house to watch "Pay it Forward" with the kids from the scholarship program. Finally got to hang out with Enrique and Pedro, and visited with their Mom, Patricia, for a little while. She makes this wonderful little snack called "Bunelos." New favorite. "Pay it Forward" is about giving to the next person rather than repaying the person that helped you. The movie was very poignant...given a story another missionary told me this week.

He said that in Africa, a man came up to a missionary and said, "You have been robbing us!" When asked how, he said, "You come and you give and give and give. But the Bible says, it is more blessed to give than to receive! You haven't taught us how to give, but to take."

Now, lets look at how Paul planted his churches. Did he go in giving tons to the people? Not exactly. He counseled them on how to be their own churches, but left the final decisions and the choice to reach out to the people within them. That's what we should be doing as missionaries (wherever you are). Yes, giving is important! But discipling others to give is much more important that just enabling a new group of takers. We should view them not as just poor, needy folk, but fellow workers for the truth. We should teach how to be Christlike by acting humbly and giving our own lives for the sake of the Name, and also guiding others to do the same. Allowing them to make the decisions of how their local church will reach out as the Body of Christ.

...and on the way home Carlos got a flat tire, so I waited with his car while he took it to get it fixed. The spare was flat too. Flat tires are pretty common when you drive in La Chureca. Tonight was the first time I have been in La Chureca at night. The garbage fires have a bitter beauty about them after dark. Anyhow while I was waiting by the car it was an unexpected chance to pray for my friends and their ministries. As Carlos dropped me off he said, "Thanks for the help, buddy!"

...and I actually got to say, "Hey, pay it forward."

I know he will. That's the way he lives his life.

This Morning

This morning there were ten people asleep in the floor of my apartment, because a pastor threatened to kill any white people that came back to the ministry where they were staying.

This morning I drove by a church that charges poor people money to pray blessings and healing for them.

This morning I walked past prostitutes that were working amidst piles of burning garbage.

This morning I had men ask if they could buy the white girls that were with me.

This morning I saw a little naked boy covered in dirt standing alone and crying in the road.

This morning I saw a fourteen year old girl who has HIV, syphilis, and several other STD's because her parents forced her into prostitution at the age of eight.

This morning I saw her smile and throw a water balloon at another child.

This morning I saw my friend pick up the little naked, dirty, crying boy and make it all better.

This morning the child that had just been hit by a water balloon gave me a hug and held my hand.

This morning a two year-old orphan walked up to me and gave me a piece of her candy.

This morning we got dirty.

...but this morning nobody noticed it because of all the love.

Two Weeks in Managua

Well...I have been in Nicaragua for two weeks now. There is so much to tell that I don't really know where to start. Electricity during the day is almost a rare luxury, even if you are somewhere that has a generator and a router, it doesn't necessarily mean that there is internet access...because the power is probably out at the cable company.

For those of you at the River, I have seen several of your favorite kids...but not all. I see Miguel and Yara (and her sisters) at church, and I have talked to Enrique on the phone. I saw Alejandro in La Chureca last week. My friend Dan offered him a spot at a autobody vocational school nearby there, but sadly he declined because he said he had too much work to do in Chureca. I'm going to go back there Thursday for a kids playday (school is out this week.)

As far as my personal arrangements...I am living with a missionary named Mark while his family is away. Dan and I are planning on getting a house in the beginning of August. My Spanish is improving, but is still not where I want it to be. I have been teaching in the school with Mike Deibert, and there are, of course, problems to deal with. On the whole, however, things are going well. The Nica HOPE directors are here this week, so we should see more about what the future of the schools will look like. I am definitely going to need a vehicle, so if everyone would pray that I can find something (and have the funds for it) then I would really appreciate it.

Mike has found a true man of peace named Freddy to help in the schools. He is Nica, and really a good example for the other boys to see. He has 7 brothers and sisters in the US, but believes that God wants him to stay in Nicaragua to help his people. He always has a smile and a hymn to sing while he is working. Right now they have a project putting a railing up around a house, and Freddy has really boosted their motivation in ways that Mike and I never could.

Anyway...pictures!

...sorry, I lost internet before I could put the link up before. Here is the new album.

Blacksmithing School and Flat Tire Night in the Village

The Places I Will Go (Fun with Google Earth)

If you play with Google Earth, you might find these interesting.

La Chureca (notice the yellow bus...that is most likely Guillermo and Open Hearts Ministry)
12° 9'52.72"N
86°18'12.06"W

Quinta Havilah (The Open Hearts Ministry farm)
12° 6'4.97"N
86°21'4.29"W

Condominio Allyson (The apartments I will most likely live in.)
12° 5'48.55"N
86°20'58.39"W

Monte Hermon ...to the best I can remember it is at least near here. (site of the next vocational school)
12° 4'45.26"N
86°21'49.08"W

Campo Alegria
11°29'7.43"N
85°47' 25.31"W

And for comparison...The River Ministry Center site
36° 8'2.26"N
85°31'23.20"W

Enjoy the "Flight!"

Blessings,
Eli