A strange thing happened to me. . .

A strange thing happened to me.  One day in church I asked for prayer for Healing Streams. Later Mary told me that every time the speaker used the phrase “Things are not as they seem” in his sermon; she felt strongly that these words were for me.  I kind of grumbled about this to God. “So if things are not as they seem, how are they?  Are they worse or are they better?”  My friend Debbie had the sense to ask God, “What is it that Dawn doesn’t see?” And out of the blue, I sensed that I should fast. And I thought of this passage where Daniel fasts and prays for 21 day before his answer comes:

Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.

I didn’t know how long or what the outcome of the fast would be.  All I knew was that God was inviting me to fast so that some unseen battle could be won.  If you assume this is normal for me, you would be wrong. This was the first time I’d ever felt invited by God to fast.  So it began, that very day.  Let me give you some context. While praying about the future of Healing Streams and the finances needed to bring that future about when I “saw” a picture in my mind of a battle field with an active battle taking place. It was the time of swords and shields and horses. In the middle of the battle was a treasure chest being carried on long poles by four men. The passage of the treasure chest was being impeded by the battle.  Debbie, my partner in prayer, saw a similar picture.

The second scripture I recalled was from Mark 9:14-22 where the disciples were not able to heal someone’s son but Jesus was. Jesus points to faith, prayer and fasting as keys to his power. Prayer and fasting changes things. It seems like the balance of power in the heavenlies shift when God’s people fast and pray.

So I fasted. Three weeks of liquids.  And then it was over.  No drama. No big visible miracle. I felt let down. I knew without a doubt that God had invited me into this fast. I also knew that he ended it on September 3. But why?  What was in the treasure chest?  What role had I played in the battle?

Toward the end of the fast, I woke one morning with the overwhelming sense that the enemy was being routed. As they fled and the good guys pursued, an arrow zinged through the air and impaled a treasure carrier’s leg. I saw him stumble, crumble, and fall.  I prayed, desperately, not knowing why I prayed or what to pray for. “Help him, help him.”  I saw a tall fiery figure take his place.  I worry about the wounded one. I wonder about it all. And I pray.

“Ask God what’s in the treasure chest,” suggested Mary. And immediately I saw a cross made from shining gold rise up out of the chest.  It was immense and glorious.  And two scriptures:

We preach Christ crucified. I Corinthians 1:23

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Romans 1:11-20.

The second thing I saw was a large tent spread out over the treasure chest. There is a song recorded in Isaiah 54:2 that talks about this:

Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.

A couple of lines in the battle have advanced.  I have increasing freedom to view God as the CEO of Healing Streams and myself as his employee (servant would be the biblical equivalent). I also recognize more clearly the pull of Mammon (the destructive and seductive spiritual force behind money) and choose to follow God’s grace instead.  God’s generosity is demonstrated both in the prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread” and in the abundance with which he provided manna (food) for the Israelites in the desert.  In both cases the generosity is for the day, and when manna is horded, it turns bad.  What an invitation to trust!  I am learning to live within the boundaries of what God has provided for Healing Streams without demandingness, while also asking God about his invitation to us to “enlarge the place of our tent”.  What an adventure!

Carrying Pain

We sat together in my 3rd floor office, just he and I and the computer.  He has chosen the name Moses as his pseudonym.  He recalls that as the war drew closer to his village, his parents instructed the children, “When you hear fighting, you must hide quickly.” And so he did. And in the morning when he emerged from his hiding place he found his family gathered in the dining room of their house, slaughtered.  “Even my little sister.”  He remembers nothing after that. Two weeks later, confused and in shock, he found himself in a refugee camp in Uganda, not sure how he arrived. “I must have come through the bush” he says, “It was the only way.”

Occassionaly he glances at the computer that is recording our conversation…unsure of how much to reveal.  I’m learning much about mistrust, betrayal and fear. “You cannot heal in refugee camps,” he says, “because bad things happen there too and you do not know what will happen next.” But in Canada, he says, you can start to forget and build a new life. “Slowly, slowly, slowly”.  The conversation is on the topic of recovery from war trauma and it is evident that this young man who went from childhood to manhood overnight, carries a lot of pain.

He wants to talk about it though, in the hopes that it can help others.  He wants to speak out to add his voice to those calling for peace. The solution is not through violence he says, but through talking.  Only through talking will peace come. Amazing words from someone who could easily have chosen a much different path.

Trade not aid: Lorna Dueck issues challenge to the church

What do you think of this challenge from Lorna Dueck?

Lorna Dueck

Let’s rebuild the African narrative

It’s paramount we listen to the African voices telling us to change our paradigm on aid.  Read more

Julie & Julia

Mastering the Art of French Cooking

I just returned from a fabulous movie called Julie & Julia.  I’m sure loving it has nothing to do with the fact that I’d like to write a famous blog that has hundreds of followers. Or the fact that French cuisine is my favorite. Or the fact that it had not one but two couples who were pretty authentic depictions of the ups and downs of healthy relationships.

In a momentary laspe of sanity, I even considered cooking my way through Julia Child’s cookbook as well. However, that was quickly dismissed by reality – perhaps doing doctoral research, developing an international NGO, and being married to a pastor (with all the accompanying accroutments, most of which I secretly love) is enough. But one still has to cook and although my own saint of a husband is our primary cook until I’m done my doctorate, I’m positive he wouldn’t mind a year of french cooking when the time comes. Then I read a more reasonable response from one of my facebook friends, a Julia Child evening. One evening with friends. That I can do. Stay posted.

Finding Your Way

At times life seems clear and predictable, even a little boring. Kind of like driving home from work, I can do it without thinking.  But then there are times when life throws you a curve ball – someone swerves into your path, a construction crew posts a detour.  Suddenly all senses are on alert and the mind is focused and active.

Transitions can be like that. Life isn’t quite as predictable. Unexpected road blocks can suddenly appear.  I like the way John Stackhouse writes about it in a blogpost entitled: Finding The Will of God: Or Not Getting Lost in the Forest. He writes,

When we can’t find our way by normal means, God provides extraordinary means. Perhaps we “come across” a book or a television show or a stranger on an airplane flight that gives us vital information necessary to continue our life journey. Perhaps we gain counsel from a friend or teacher or relative. God knows where the trail becomes impossible to discern by normal means and so he has prompted and positioned other people to mark that decision point for us so that we may continue.

Sometimes though we have to walk by faith and not sight.  We have to believe that God is guiding us, watching over us, and will be there to give us strength if we stumble or fall.  In my life its the small things…moving, planning, hoping.  Other times though, its life and death.

Just meters from completing half-marathon, Darrell leaned over and said triumphantly to his daughter and running partner, “We did it!” Seconds later he collapsed. He never regained consciousness and 5 days later died from cardiac arrest. He was 49 years old.

Does God guarantee that by following him that we will not encounter difficulties?  Absolutely not. What he does promise is that “when we walk through the waters, he will be with us.”  Darrell’s family must now struggle with creating a life without him.  I’m guessing they will be asking God, what will life be like now?  Until now, all their plans and directions included him. Now they must re-evaluate based on a new reality.  Any number of metaphors could be used to describe what Darrell’s family must go through now:  “Lost in the forest”, “Walking by faith not sight”, “When one door closes, another opens”. But the reality is, cliches feel trite when we’re lost in the forest.  What is true however, is that God is with us in the darkenss, in the forest, in our lostness…and with time we will once again regain our footing and find our way.  And hopefully we can use the lessons we have learned to encourage others as well so they know someone else has walked there too.

Ride for Refugees – Sponsor Healing Streams Team!

Ride for Refugee Logo

On October 4th Healing Streams will join the Ride for Refugees in fundraising event to support refugees world wide.  As a grant partner, Healing Streams receives 50% of funds raised after the $1,000 minimum. Healing Streams funds will go toward capacity building through training in communities flooded with displaced persons and refugees.

The long-running conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been one of the deadliest in the last half century.  More than 5 million people have died from causes associated with the conflict.  About 1.4 million people remain internally displaced and there are approximately 340,000 Congolese refugees in neighboring countries.  Civilians in eastern DRC continue to endure targeted attacks by all armed groups. http://www.refugeesinternational.org/where-we-work/africa/dr-congo.

Support us now!

See our Team Page and Join as a Rider!

Ride for Refugees – Teams

Shared via AddThis

Feel Guilty About Rest?

Beaches, campfires, hiking sand dunes, and sunshine. These are the lingering images from my recent vacation. Observers may better recall our daily ritual of packing up our belongings,  collapsing our tent and lugging the whole mess to a new campsite each night.  We provided daily campground entertainment as Ross jogged beside our loosely packed trailer while I drove slowly through the park to our new site (the penalty for not making reservations).

A vacation is an opportunity to rest, relax, and reconnect. I often think of the rhythms of grace evident in the balance of work and rest.  I’m so grateful that from the beginning to the end, God has demonstrated the importance of the work/rest balance.  Beginning with creation, God worked 6 days and on the 7th he rested.  As created beings, this is a significant pattern deeply engrained in us.  Our creator does not work without breaks and as people created in his image, we too cannot expect to operate optimally if we have a lifestyle of all work and no rest or all play and no work.  We were created for both.

However, there are times when rest is long in coming.  Recent LRA kidnapping survivor, Bako Dabi, currently living in Calgary, went to eastern Democratic of Congo to visit his family.  He “camped out” with several fellow travellers along the way.  This “camping trip” turned into a nightmare when the rebels attacked the small group, murdered anyone who resisted, and captured the rest. While in captivity Dabi was forced to run with his captives through the jungle, carry supplies, and follow orders.

Hearing a story like Dabi’s can lead to guilt.  Why should I get to rest or take vacation when many people struggle just to survive? If this is an issue for you, you may want to challenge that thought by asking,  how does you not taking care of yourself, not attending to the rhythms of work and rest help those who are suffering?  It doesn’t. So what are the alternatives.  There are many organizations, like Healing Streams, seeking to bring rest into people’s lives who are struggling.  Healing Streams does it by training and equipping communities to practice holistic leadership skills, provide compassionate counselling opportunities, and thereby finding rest from the emotional, mental and relational struggles which accompany conflict & trauma.

Will you help us continue to make space for rest in the lives of Congolese men & women?  Consider sending us a portion of the amount you use for vacation every year and join the Circle of Hope as we work together to make the world a safe and healthy place for everyone.  Help us grow the circle until it encircles the world.

If you’re in the KW, Ontario, Canada area, mark your calendars for our next Circle of Hope event, October 15th at the Victoria Pavilion.  We’ll have our first Circle of Hope event in Calgary this coming February.

Thanks for visiting the blog.

Summer Reading

The Book of Negroes, Canada Reads 2009 selection, is not a light read.  Nor is it escapist summer fiction. Rather, Lawrence Hill invites us into the life of Aminanta, an 11 year old African girl taken captive by “homelanders” and sold to slave traders in America.  At 100 pages in, I love Aminanta’s spirit, her fight to stay strong by remembering the wise words of her parents, both were murdered in the capture.  Some poignant phrases:

…our captors were also marked by what they lacked: light in their eyes. Never have I met a person doing terrible things who would meet my own eyes peacefully. To gaze into another person’s face is to do two things: to recognize their humanity, and to assert your own.

This excerpt brings to mind the powerful effect of shame. When a person feels shame, they drop their eyes.  In November, a young Congolese pastor at a Hope & Healing seminar told us of his experience with rage and shame. Although a good community member, he said held great anger and resentment toward many people, especially his mother. Over time he developed a plan. He would join the army and be trained in the use of guns. Once trained, he would kill someone and steal their gun.  His plan was to defect from the army, take the stolen gun and kill everyone who had ever hurt him. He planned to start with his mother.  One night he had a dream that changed his life. In the dream he received a third gun, an unfamiliar weapon that he didn’t know how to operate. He realized that this gun was not to be used to destroy people but to help them. He left the army, returned to the church and became a pastor. As he shared this story he was clear eyed and bright faced.  He carried none of the shame that had consumed him.  His greatest joy is working with other ex-soldiers and helping them re-integrate into the community.  Having found his own humanity, he could now extend it to others.

Looking forward to reading the rest of Aminata’s story.

Fundraising on my mind…

I just came across Steve Bell’s blog. Steve Bell is one of my favorite musical artists.  I first encountered Steve when he was just starting his musical career in Winnipeg, Manitoba and I was just starting to date.  My date and I ended up at a Steve Bell concert and I was hooked. The relationship is long over but Steve Bell’s music has seen much more success. For those of you unfamiliar with his music, he has a folksy lyrical style that invites the listener to encounter God on life’s journey.  Steve also travels and works in Africa and his blog is a wonderful window into his experiences.

Steve has this to say about charity:

I guess I am beginning to understand that charity is not simply giving from “my” excess to another’s pitiful need. At the supper table, I don’t think myself generous when my children load their plates with food. We don’t do that kind of math at all. We eat, we laugh, we tell stories as we subtly, mutually (unconsciously) negotiate our life together. True charity is about coming to the table, with all God’s children and celebrating responsibly and joyfully the gift of creation that is God’s good gift to all. It’s a very different way of thinking about possessions and entitlement and all the assumptions that make the capitalist world go ‘round.

Love it!

Just realized that blog post is from 2007 and Steve has a new blog. Check it out here.

Fundraising letters

I just read a fundraising letter written by Dave Phillips, the Campaign Chair for the Crieff Hills Community capital campaign.  It made me want to give and that caught my attention.  Crieff Hills Community is a retreat centre situated in the rolling hills close to Guelph, Ontario.  With multiple buildings they accomodate groups of any size, including individual retreatants. I have many postive memories of time spent there in groups and alone.

However, Crieff Hills has not been on my radar as a charity I would consider giving to.  This letter changed that. As such it is a powerful example of effective letter writing. What about it made me read it instead of toss it? I decided to disect this letter to find out.  Here’s what I came up with:

1. It starts with new letterhead.  New graphics on the letterhead remind me of the landscape at Crieff and trigger emotional memories of all the great times I’ve had at Crieff.
2. Three phrases are highlighted:  “Building a place apart”, “Come for a day…or stay”, and “a place apart…to come together”. Each of these phrases appeal to my love for solitude, nature, peace.
3. The project identfies a need in my life, creating time and space for solitude.  Crieff is addressing this need by expanding their capacity to host personal retreats.  The current hermitage is in high demand and often not available.
4. Of course the letter had all the basics, addressed to me personally, good mix of fact and vision, error free.
5. The “ask” is clear and uncomplicated.

This letter appealed to me because it meets a need I strongly identify with.  I’m wondering how I can write letters for Healing Streams that helps the reader feel the same way about a project in another country.  In the west, as in developing countries, we can be overwhelmed by all the needs before us. Sometimes less choice is easier. If we can latch onto one or two organizations that are meeting needs in areas we care about we can begin to make a difference. If you have examples of fundraising letters that do a good job of engaging the reader I’d love to hear about them.