COOKIE’S CALL

[He] is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us… Ephesians 3:20-21 (NKJV)

Cookie is home to renew her visa. She has to return from Haiti every few months so that she can go back to work with orphans in their hillside sanctuary. Two years ago she responded to God’s call to go – just for a few months – and now she finds herself returning again and again.

Cookie is an English teacher committed to helping every one of her students learn to communicate in English. She knows that speaking English in Haiti is almost a sure guarantee of a decent job in the stressed economy. But that’s not why Cookie continues to return to Haiti after every break. This afternoon she elaborated on one of the many ways she sees God at work.

Some months ago a young mother came to the orphanage to confess that she had thrown her newborn into a garbage dump—about twelve hours earlier. Cookie and her fellow missioners had become inured to finding little ones who were discarded for one reason or another, but it was unusual for a mother to come with such news.

The small group of missioners hurried to a large trough, sixteen feet deep, where the baby had been tossed earlier in the day. One of the young men was able to climb into the pit, rummage around, and find the plastic bag that contained the baby. He hauled it up and put it on the ground as the others gathered round to pray. An inert little arm fell out of the bag, and as they prayed, they heard the sound of a massive intake of breath and then a cry. Miraculously, the baby girl was alive, unscratched, unmarked.

The missioners brought the little one back to their compound and cleaned her up, all the while thanking God for sparing her little life. One of the missionary couples was moved to adopt the baby and named her Faith, and she is now a thriving six-month-old toddler who is loved and coddled by all the missioners on campus.

And so, Cookie keeps going back to Haiti.

Father, thank you for reminding us of your great power as we call to you in faith believing. Thank you for Cookie and all those who reach out to touch lives in your name. Help us to faithfully “touch the one in front of us.” In Jesus’ name. AMEN.

NO UNEMPLOYMENT

He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Luke 10:2

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a little over 5% of the U.S. population is unemployed. That doesn’t sound like many people, but if you look at those folks in our country who are over 18 years of age and don’t have jobs, that’s over 16 million people. The statistics are sobering, considering that each number represents a person for whom God has a plan.

While this data is disturbing, juxtapose that with a pundit’s recent comment about a woman who was detained at the aiirport as possibly infected with ebola. “No wonder she’s suing the government. Can you imagine being shut up in a room for 15 minutes without a cell phone [or any technology]? You’d be bored out of your mind.” Really? You don’t have enough creative imagination or thought process to occupy yourself for 15 minutes?

Perhaps unemployment and creativity are somehow related, but as God’s children we should know that we will never run out of opportunities to be “workers in his field.” There’s no unemployment. The needs are abundant, and each of us has been placed in a unique position to touch and love and minister where no one else has been called. There’s not a place to quit, and there’s no retirement from God’s work. Let’s pick ourselves up and keep going.

Oh, and can you think of just 3 things you could do if you were shut up for 15 minutes without your cell phone?

Lord, I ask that you would provide economic opportunities for those who are looking for work. Open doors they never expected and encourage them. And help us all to be diligent laborers in a needy world, many of whose members do not yet know you. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.