My Turn...'s blog

Sometimes I substitute teach one of our Sunday School classes.  Once when I did this the lesson was from Deuteronomy, a book I had always thought of as just a bunch of rules and regulations. The lesson writer, however, pointed out that since Moses knew he was about to die, Deuteronomy was really Moses’ “last sermon” to the people he loved.  I mentioned to the class that this reminded me of “The Last Lecture”, a book based on the last lecture of a professor before his death from cancer, a book that I had not read but wanted to.

Maxine and I lived and worked in Haiti for three years.  I managed Grace Children’s TB Hospital in Port-au-Prince, a national TB, maternal and child health program and family planning programs.  We fell in love with the Haitian people, and are very saddened for their unbelievable plight today.  After this horrible destruction and loss of life, it will take a generation or two to completely recover.  

He came through the line

Head bowed, so thin

His straight black hair covered his face

He didn’t look up

Advent has come and gone for another year.   For me, it was a season full of meaning and wonder:   from the soaring melodies of Rutter’s Magnificat to the joyous strains of carolers and big band music, from serving dessert to serving communion, from quiet reflection to noisy parties, full of energy and life.  There were births, baptisms and December weddings.  There were beautiful sermons, a story about a Christmas mouse named Willard, gifts given and received and time spent with precious friends and family. 

Friday, December 11, 2009

(ABP) -- Baptist missiologist Samuel Escobar, author of The New Global Mission, contends that immigration in the 21st century can become a missions challenge for Christians in the developed world. He suggests that churches in the United States and Western Europe will face a threefold challenge:

• To exhibit Christian compassion and sensitivity to immigrants;
• To take a prophetic stance in the face of injustices in the way in which society treats immigrants; and,
• To consider immigration an avenue for the evangelistic dimension of mission.

In any metropolitan newspaper in the United States, readers will find stories of the immigrants -- both legal and illegal -- who dot the landscape of our nation.