If you have lived anywhere in a developing or a recovering country as a westerner, you no doubt have experienced a plethora of requests whether it be from Roma at the street lights asking for money, a person with a sick child asking for assistance to "send their child out of country for medical care", a person needing a new roof for their home, or money to start a new business. The requests are numerous and can become quite stressful. In the culture where I reside at the moment, there is always this sense of urgency, "I need the money NOW, so and so is waiting for it" or "my child is getting sicker" or "my roof is leaking" or "this supplier will not wait any longer for me to begin the business". All requests needed to be fulfilled yesterday. The people have an art of putting pressure on you to act now, or to manipulate your thoughts and actions. I'm one of those weaklings that tend to trust people quicker than mistrust them, especially if they are crying and show me photos of their situation. So I give in to their requests much faster than I should. This has gotten me into a lot of trouble in the past and has resulted in a loss of much money, let alone the damage that was done to the requester by helping cause a dependency on others instead of helping them take responsibility for meeting their own needs.
These situations are unlike what Joshua experienced by the Gibeonites. In Joshua 9, the Gibeonites deceived Joshua and the elders out of a fear for their lives. Even though they were a neighbouring and powerful city, a group of them dressed up in worn out clothes and sandals, grabbed some old wine skins and stale bread and dragged themselves into Joshua's camp seeking a covenant with the Israelites. They claimed that they had come from a far away land, and had heard of the mighty God of the Israelites and so wanted to partner with them by serving them. The Gibeonites were manipulative and expressed that sense of urgency, vs. 11 "We are your servants; NOW then, make a covenant with us." Joshua and the men fell into their trap, vss. 14-15, "So the men of Israel took some of their provisions and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them." Three days later, the Israelites learned that the city of Gibeon was just around the corner from them. But they were stuck, they couldn't go back on their promises to them, because they made an oath in the presence of the Lord.
Every time Joshua had waited on the Lord, the Lord gave them instruction and blessed them. But this time, he didn't take that time to do that. He had learned a great lesson, one which is applicable for us today. So as a CAMA team, we discussed this and decided to adopt what we will call "The Gibeonite policy". Whenever a request comes in, we will tell the requester that we need at least 24 hours to seek the will of our God on the matter. They can return tomorrow then for the answer. If they are a person who will not respect our desire to pray about it first and continue to pressure us, then they are not worthy of the assistance they are seeking. As we seek the Lord for wisdom, we will be bringing Him into the decision, taking the pressure off of us, it will help us to see the real heart of the requester and most of all it will give God glory. It will most like save us a few bucks as well!
Monday, July 21, 2014
Friday, July 11, 2014
Found a cucumber on my plant
I love plants, I love watching new leaves grow on them and watching flowers start to bud and to bloom, but I am not a gardener, in fact I really stink at it. One day I had a Kosovar professional gardener come in to teach a class on horticulture to my occupational therapy students. The students had a chance to plant seeds and starters as a practice of what they learned. Because the students knew that I had just moved into a new home with a huge yard and garden space, all of the students gave me what they planted instead of keeping their plants for themselves. So, I inherited tomato plants, peppers, strawberries and flowers, plus one cucumber plant.
Because it rained days on end, not allowing a single day to get into the garden to plant, the seeds started springing up in their cups and the starters started budding flowers in their pots. The rain finally stopped and I was able to get out and prep the garden spot and finally put these plants into the ground. Because I was told that the cucumber plant needed to have a stick to grow up on, and I didn't have one, I used a broken broom handle and tied it to the fence. So there it was, the lonely one cucumber plant all by its self, separate from all the other plants.
It hasn't been too difficult to be motivated to go out into the garden and plant these things, because each morning around 6 am, it seems all the women of the village, no matter what age they were, would go walking out toward the fields, with these heavy plough tools over their shoulders or they would be in their own yards working in their gardens, every single morning. It didn't take long to realise that if I was going to see any fruit from these plants and if I was going to fit well into this village, I was going to have to work hard to make it happen.
Now one difference between myself and these ladies is, I had a job (OT clinic and University) that kept me away from the house most of the day, 6 days a week, they didn't. So, their gardens are their place of work. They will till the ground around each plant every other day, they would pull the weeds and pull off the little starter leaves at the arm pit of each tomato branch, allowing for the nutrients to get to the tomatoes on the end. I, on the other had, didn't do that. My gardening skills consisted of watering every evening or in the mornings and once in a great while I would get out there a pull a few weeds so that I could find my plants again.
One day, after a long run of rainy days again, I went out to the lonely cucumber plant, and behold, I found a "huge" (in my eyes, but certainly not compared to what the neighbours produce) cucumber on the plant. I was so excited! I thought, "This gardening stuff is easier than I thought!" It didn't take long to realise however, that what was on that plant, really had nothing to do with me. I was just the fortunate one that got to taste the fruit of what God had grown Himself. Sure, I put the plant in the ground and tied it to the broom handle, but He sent the rain and He sent the sun and He protected it from the surrounding weeds.
This is much like ministry here in the "Vo", some will call it. We go out there each day, working as hard as we can, looking for opportunities to sneak "Jesus" into the conversations, to sneak prayer into people's lives, to tell testimonies of what God does, we till and till and pull weeds (trying to dispel the lies of the enemy), day in and day out, just to find more weeds growing up, around them thicker and plusher. Sometimes we see little blossoms, but they die out and more comes, but they don't produce fruit either. Then on that rare occasion, we run into the person who says, "Hey, is this where I can hear about Jesus?" and we get to enjoy the sweet flavour of leading them into personal relationship with the One they seek. And then we think, "Yay, that was easy!" But, we didn't do anything, God did. He did the growing, He did the weeding, He did the protecting, we just did the reaping!
So, do we stop tilling? Pulling weeds? Working the garden? NO! Out of about 15 tomato plants, I have 3 wee tomatoes growing, I have a few peppers now that are growing as well, and I was able to enjoy the first and only strawberry that grew on my strawberry plants. Because I have a loving God, who loves me and who loves the people of the "Vo", I know that there WILL be fruit, that the work will not be in vain and both He and I will get to dine together on the fruit of our labour.
Because it rained days on end, not allowing a single day to get into the garden to plant, the seeds started springing up in their cups and the starters started budding flowers in their pots. The rain finally stopped and I was able to get out and prep the garden spot and finally put these plants into the ground. Because I was told that the cucumber plant needed to have a stick to grow up on, and I didn't have one, I used a broken broom handle and tied it to the fence. So there it was, the lonely one cucumber plant all by its self, separate from all the other plants.
It hasn't been too difficult to be motivated to go out into the garden and plant these things, because each morning around 6 am, it seems all the women of the village, no matter what age they were, would go walking out toward the fields, with these heavy plough tools over their shoulders or they would be in their own yards working in their gardens, every single morning. It didn't take long to realise that if I was going to see any fruit from these plants and if I was going to fit well into this village, I was going to have to work hard to make it happen.
Now one difference between myself and these ladies is, I had a job (OT clinic and University) that kept me away from the house most of the day, 6 days a week, they didn't. So, their gardens are their place of work. They will till the ground around each plant every other day, they would pull the weeds and pull off the little starter leaves at the arm pit of each tomato branch, allowing for the nutrients to get to the tomatoes on the end. I, on the other had, didn't do that. My gardening skills consisted of watering every evening or in the mornings and once in a great while I would get out there a pull a few weeds so that I could find my plants again.
One day, after a long run of rainy days again, I went out to the lonely cucumber plant, and behold, I found a "huge" (in my eyes, but certainly not compared to what the neighbours produce) cucumber on the plant. I was so excited! I thought, "This gardening stuff is easier than I thought!" It didn't take long to realise however, that what was on that plant, really had nothing to do with me. I was just the fortunate one that got to taste the fruit of what God had grown Himself. Sure, I put the plant in the ground and tied it to the broom handle, but He sent the rain and He sent the sun and He protected it from the surrounding weeds.
This is much like ministry here in the "Vo", some will call it. We go out there each day, working as hard as we can, looking for opportunities to sneak "Jesus" into the conversations, to sneak prayer into people's lives, to tell testimonies of what God does, we till and till and pull weeds (trying to dispel the lies of the enemy), day in and day out, just to find more weeds growing up, around them thicker and plusher. Sometimes we see little blossoms, but they die out and more comes, but they don't produce fruit either. Then on that rare occasion, we run into the person who says, "Hey, is this where I can hear about Jesus?" and we get to enjoy the sweet flavour of leading them into personal relationship with the One they seek. And then we think, "Yay, that was easy!" But, we didn't do anything, God did. He did the growing, He did the weeding, He did the protecting, we just did the reaping!
So, do we stop tilling? Pulling weeds? Working the garden? NO! Out of about 15 tomato plants, I have 3 wee tomatoes growing, I have a few peppers now that are growing as well, and I was able to enjoy the first and only strawberry that grew on my strawberry plants. Because I have a loving God, who loves me and who loves the people of the "Vo", I know that there WILL be fruit, that the work will not be in vain and both He and I will get to dine together on the fruit of our labour.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Finding a home continues
Well, as exciting as that last place sounded, it fell through! Found out that it is very cold in the winter, the wind blows through the windows and it takes a lot of wood to keep it warm. I DONT DO COLD! So back to the drawing board! As I only have one more week from today to find a place to live, I'm delighted that I can rest in the fact that my Heavenly Father is on the case, He will come through for me! I did look at place where I can only see the outside and the inside sounds wonderful. Total opposite of the last place; everything is brand spanking new, 5 rooms, and that is only on the first floor of the three floor house, the landlords live out of country and only come back for a two week summer holiday, no one else lives in the place AND..... it even comes with a dog! Many people have been praying that I would find a place that would be even grander than I can imagine! This is a place that is certainly fitting that description, because it too has that prayer room possibility. I'll know more once the keys arrive from Switzerland and I'll actually get to see the inside. The price has already been set within budget, I just need to see the inside and give a final decision! So.... will the keys arrive before the 22nd? To be continued ........
Monday, August 22, 2011
Finding a home
I just love the people who live here! The guy who will be building the handicap ramp on the OT clinic made it his personal "mission" to help me find a house to live in. He even showed me his home. He drove me around in his car to see many places, and even though he said he had a lot of work at the moment, he took most of the day to cart me around to places and to speak with landlords. He phoned me up on Friday with another option, he came across town to pick me up just to take me back across town again so as to see this house. Now every place I've seen until now has been newer furnished homes on a busy street or on the third floor with no lift (which is rough on the knees for me) or has shared entrances with families with noisy kids. They have all been nicely furnished, yet they all lacked one thing that has been a priority on my heart, and that is a quiet entrance that leads to a prayer room, where other believers may come and go freely in order to have quiet time with their Father and to be refreshed. So, this place on Friday, It has a nice huge yard (nice plus), the house is older than the hills. A family is in it but will be moving out on the 15th of Sept. The cupboards are old and the drawers don't sit straight. It has an old electric stove for which maybe one burner works, the current tenants are the owners of the carpets, the couches, the refrigerator, the furniture in all the bedrooms except one, the wood stove and the wash machine. I think even the curtains are theirs. However, an old couch with holes in the cushions, sitting on the front porch, will be staying. The floors are old creaky wood floors, the boiler is at least 30 years old and barely hanging on the wall, the bathroom has a toilet and a sink and a spout with a shower head for a shower, so no tub or shower basin (the water just runs onto the concrete floor, as well as a drippy pipe that runs along the wall). However there is a tub in a bathroom upstairs but water leaks everywhere and out into the corridor so it is currently used for storage. Yet there was something about the place! Maybe it was the peacefulness sitting on that old couch on the large balcony, sheltered by grape vines, or the front separate staircase that leads up to yet another large balcony and two rooms for which are potential to have not one but two prayer rooms and retreat places? Even though the house is more like a "project" and it will take much time and finances to make it my home, I felt as though the Lord said, "Here Di, I'm giving you a whole house, make it your own." On a side note, the rent price was the same as a two room one floor place and the owners live out of country and really could care less what happens to the house as long as I don't blow it up or something. The yard is closed in and has plenty of space for a couple of dogs and there is a covered place for stack my wood for the winter. It also has a basement where I can put the dogs while company comes and they will have a dry place to sleep in the winter. (still haven't decided on getting them, but the house is set up for it). I said "yes" to the landlord in spite of all the work that will be required to get it furnished. I'm excited about this "project" of a home! I'm excited about what God is going to do in it and through it.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Return to Kosova
On August 15, 2011 I landed back in Kosove. As I was sitting having supper with some dear Kosovar friends last night, one of them said, "Were you even in England the past two and half years?" His meaning was, "seems as though you never went away." It's interesting and even scary how "normal" it feels to be here. Scary because I would never want my two and half year experience in the UK just seem like a dream or quickly fade away as if I was never there. I cherish those times, I cherish those years and the people that were part of my life there. As I'm looking for a place to live here in Kosove, and am not yet fully engaged in what is going on around me, I feel as though I'm slowly walking through a long tunnel where when I look back I can see scenes of the UK and looking forward I see scenes of Kosova and the walls of the tunnel are intertwined with scenes from both, plus the states, plus future visions and dreams; a mishmash of everything! Not exactly sure when I'll reach the end of the tunnel, but don't necessary feel like I need to pick up the pace either.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Help in quietness
The other day in my devotions I read Ex. 14:14 which says, "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." I just love that promise! This verse keeps going on around in my head over and over. I think its because I usually associate battle with chaos, striving and fatigue, but here it is the total opposite; When I am resting in Him and keeping silent before Him, yielding myself and the battle over to Him, His role in the fight is even more pronounced. It's kind of like, if we were engaging the enemy in battle along side our fellow soldiers, our attention would be solely on where the enemy was at so that we could use our defensive moves and offensive moves against them. We wouldn't have any idea how our comrades were doing and what they were doing. But if we stepped aside from the battle and sat up on a hill above it and watched what was going on, we could focus on what each of our fellow soldiers were doing and how the battle was progressing. I'm finding the more I quiet myself before God, the more I purposely shut off the computer, close the books (even the Bible sometimes), shut my mouth, turn my mind off of what is going on around me, curl up on the couch and fix my eyes on Jesus, the more I'm seeing Him take over the areas of my life that I have been fighting for and battling with. I can't see what He is doing if I'm too wrapped up in the battle myself, using my own strength. It sounds so simple, why do we make it so complicated? One of the things I fear the most as I prepare to return to Kosova in July is to find myself getting caught up, once again, in the everyday battles of busyness. There is so much to do, there are so many needs to be met, there is so much organization that needs to be accomplished, so many people to visit, so many people to reach. It is easy to think that I need to be the one to engage in all of those "battles", in reality, I need to return to Kosova so that I can "rest" and be quiet before the Lord, then watch the Victor do His thing.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving! Today was just a regular day at work here, however our church will be having a Thanksgiving celebration that I'll be catering on the 4th of Dec. We'll also have a Christmas ceilidh as well. So should be fun! I pray all of you stateside had a great time with your families! We have many blessings to give thanks for!
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