Sounds of Silence

Yesterday was beautiful... almost undescribably so... but I'll try.

At church, we did worship differently. It was participatory and scripture-filled and there was no music. We focused on the attributes of God and what He's done for us. Prayers of thanksgiving and confession were offered. Our pastor laid out some basics and we shared communion, and it was incredibly moving.

One of the points made in that hour is that our society worships many things. I may say that God is the center of my life, but my actions and priorities can prove otherwise. Idols of money, relationships, career or leisure replace living for and giving glory to God.

After a quiet lunch at home, I picked up the book "In the Presence of Mine Enemies." It recounts the experiences of Martin and Gracia Burnham - missionaries to the Philippines who spent over a year in the hands of kidnappers. As I read in silence (without my usual TV background noise) I was struck by the horror and humiliation they suffered. However, they also held fast to their hope in Christ - believing their captivity had purpose and that God could use them to influence their captors.

Several points made the book more poignant. First, the Burnhams arrived in the Philippines in 1986. He was a pilot and they were stationed at Aritao. One of their good friends, Lynn Burggraf (also with New Tribes Mission) is mentioned in the book as being the one who had to tell the Burnhams' children of the kidnapping. Lynn hosted me and three girls in her village for several days in April 1986. We flew into Lynn's village. I'm almost certain that Martin was our pilot. I've recently reconnected with Lynn on facebook. Small world, eh?

Martin was released into the presence of Jesus in 2002 and Gracia made it back to the USA to her children. Life must be somewhat bittersweet, but I pray that God continues to comfort and bless her in ways above all we can ask or imagine.

It was probably 20 years ago that a friend of mine, also serving as a missionary in the Philippines, was murdered. John Speers left behind his wife Brenda and two children. John and Brenda were mentors that left a mark on my life back when I was with Venture Teams International in Manila.

Although I haven't lived on foreign soil in 25 years, I hope I've taken those lessons and lived out Christ here in my everyday activities in Canada. You don't have to look very far to find hurting, lost people who need the love of God to fill and transform their lives.

It's going to take more silence and focus on my part to pray and connect with my friends intentionally. I know my future in heaven with God is secure... but I want to ensure that I've done everything to make a difference for Him here on earth.