Goodbye Dear Friend!

On Sunday (my first Sunday back from my trip to Tallinn, Berlin, and Moscow) Jerry, the head of the church’s missions organization, made an announcement at church that my friend, Francesca, is dying of cancer.  It had apparently been in her body for many years.  He smiled and said that Francesca told him: “I don’t think I’m going to make it to church this week.”  Her last words to the church were: “Tell them that God is good.”

When I asked about her after church Jerry told me not to try and go see her because she’s not really able to communicate, being truly at the end of her life, and not conscious very much at all.  Well, I thought, that may be true, but I want to go to her anyway.

Francesca is very dear to me.  She is the very first missionary I encouraged in my ministry of missionary encouragement—before I even knew that this was my ministry.  Francesca heard the Good News of Jesus Christ about 8 years ago, and responded immediately by going on short-term mission trips, eventually being called to long-term ministry starting orphanages in Cambodia.  She spent the rest of her life in Cambodia sharing the love of Jesus with His little ones.

Two years ago (when she was 70), Francesca told me that God had told her that when she turns 72 He would bring her back home.  So with the end of her ministry approaching, the focus of her visits home (here in Milan) became a search for someone younger who could take over the ministry.  She wanted the transition to be smooth, and did everything she could to make that happen.  Neither she nor I had any idea that the home He was talking about would be her forever home.  But that’s probably just as well.

When she returned to Milan at the end of the summer she admitted to me that she was beginning to feel her age.  She said that she was sleeping a lot, and that perhaps she just needed to catch up on her sleep.  But she continued to weaken, and began to seek medical help.  The last time I saw her was in church just before my trip.  She looked very thin and pale, but as always, she had a smile on her face.

So when I heard about her on Sunday, I knew that I had to go see her, so I found out where she was.  Yesterday morning was my first opportunity, and I went to the hospital.  The doctors very gently told me that she had died Sunday night.  They said that she was in the hospital morgue, and said that I could go visit her there.

Now, I am not a morbid person by any means, but as I was leaving the hospital, I thought that maybe I should go visit her in the morgue.  There might be family members there who I could sympathize with.  So I followed the signs down to a basement hall with several small rooms.   There was no one there.  A sign on the wall said: “Brief visits only, please.”

I found Francesca’s name on one of the doors and entered.  There was no one there with her.  Her body was laid out on a gurney, covered in a sheet.  They had tied a cloth around her head to keep her mouth shut, but had not closed her eyes.  I came closer, knowing that what I was seeing was not Francesca, but the cocoon from which she has emerged like a glorious butterfly.

I told her:  “I love you, Francesca!  Please give Jesus a big hug for me!”  Then I thanked God for her life, and that she has life in abundance.  And you might think that this is fanciful imagination on my part, but I saw a certain glimmer of light in her eyes for just a brief moment.  I know that she heard me.

As I was leaving the hospital, I imagined Francesca meeting my dad, and telling him all about my life in Italy, and my ministry to her and to other missionaries.  He would love that!  Daddy always loved real-life adventure stories, and I know that he would have loved all my European adventures.  Just think of the friendships in Heaven that were never possible here on Earth!  I can almost hear the two of them laughing together.

You’re right, Francesca, God is good!  I will keep telling people that for you!  God is good!

Bad News Comes, but Jesus is Still Good News!

I got an e-mail the other day saying that my lifelong friend had committed suicide.  He was a believer, but clearly must have been in a terrible personal crisis.  Nobody had any idea, but now that I think of it, he probably never got over his big brother’s death 30 years ago.  Not that any of us have gotten over that, either, but I think it affected Jim more profoundly than any of us had realized.  Looking back, I realize that’s probably why he drank.  I don’t remember him drinking to excess before Nick died.  And I think he just always felt inferior to Nick because Nick was loved by everyone.

I loved Jim, and even if I had never thought this through before, I know that I did show him lots of love.  My whole family did.  He often called my parents just to talk.  But I think that some wounds are just too deep for ordinary human love to heal.  But he had turned to drink instead of to God for comfort.

One thing I was led to do was to forgive him this last sin—after all, suicide is the sin you can’t repent from.  So I forgave him because Jesus said that the sins we forgive will be forgiven (John 20:22-23).  I think that it doesn’t occur to most people to forgive suicides.  After all, it’s such a selfish act that leaves everyone you love feeling beaten and broken and confused.

I am reading “Pursuing Holiness” by Jerry Bridges © 2006, Navpress.  Jim’s suicide proves to me that we can’t afford to simply rest in the holiness Jesus gave us when we called to Him.  We’ve got to work on ourselves.  And it occurred to me today that even though Jesus did the work of salvation long ago, our personal salvation required our cooperation (i.e., confession, repentance, and baptism).  So it makes sense that our spiritual walk requires us to continue to surrender, cooperate, and yield to God as He molds us into the kind of vessels that He can use.   As with anything worthwhile in this life, you get out of it whatever you put into it.  Jesus said that troubles come to us all, but if we’re close to Him, He shields us from things that could potentially destroy us.

Thanks for letting me ramble.  This is just so hard!  But God is still good!  Please pray for Jim’s wife, children, mother, and sisters.

The Scars of Communism Part Two

As I wrote in The Scars of Communism (https://europeanfaithmissions.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/the-scars-of-communism/), just before coming on this trip to Hungary and Romania, I opened the box of books that I had gotten out of storage after a year, and the book at the very top was “Tortured for Christ” by Richard Wurmbrand.  The things suffered by Pastor Wurmbrand and the rest of the Underground Church really moved me.  After all, I could have been born in a Communist country, and had to suffer for my faith, too.

And in The Wild Life (https://europeanfaithmissions.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/the-wild-life/) I wrote:

Today there was a conference for the seniors of the church, at which Pastor H. Koraćs Gėza spoke.  I was told that I would have about five minutes to speak to them.  So of course I prayed about it, and here’s what I said:

Looking out here at all the gray hair, I am aware that many of you and your parents kept your faith in Christ under the oppressive rule of the atheistic Communists.  I have two things to say to you: First, I am deeply sorry that my country believed the lies of the Communists and did nothing to help you.  Secondly, I know that someday you will trade your silver crowns for gold crowns.  I am here to honor you for your faithful service to your Lord and mine.

To the young people here I say: learn from these elders, and share the love of Christ with everyone you know.

And finally, I would like to thank Pastor Gėza for coming.  It is an honor to meet you.

When Pastor Gėza returned to the platform, he observed that Christianity had actually flourished and grown under Communist oppression.  He said that Christianity now faces a far more dangerous enemy in the form of complacency.  I believe he’s right.

It is the danger of complacency in Eastern Europe is that it is following the same pattern that makes Western Europe such a difficult mission field.  Complacency has caused Western Europe to evolve from nominal Christianity through religious disconnection, cynicism, and xenophobia to become the secular, materialistic, humanistic, hedonistic, nihilistic, hopeless, suicidal people they’ve become, seeking answers in drugs and alcohol, Eastern Philosophies, Witchcraft, and Satanism.  Is it any wonder that abortion and human trafficking thrives in such an environment?  In Switzerland it is now possible to request physician-assisted suicide without any physical illness.

The most frightening thing of all is that the United States is following the unfortunate pattern of Europe.

What does complacency look like?  Complacency looks like Christianity, but lacks the power of the Holy Spirit, or as the Apostle Paul put it: “having a form of godliness but denying its power,” (2 Timothy 3:5).  Complacency seeks answers and help through human means instead of looking to God as the Source of all things.  Complacency seeks its own comfort instead of God’s way.

When Jesus says, “Follow Me,” Complacency answers, “But I have family responsibilities,” (Matthew 8:21).

When Jesus says, “Follow Me,” Complacency answers, “OK, but let me say goodbye to my family,” (Luke 9:61).

When Jesus says, “Follow Me,” Complacency answers, “But it’s dangerous,” (John 12:25-26).

When Jesus says, “Follow Me” Complacency answers, “But the food there is gross!  I can’t sleep on the floor!  There’s no electricity!  No internet!  No phone signal!” (Matthew 8:19-20).

Complacency makes all sorts of excuses for not following Jesus, and some of them seem appropriate and valid.  But there are missionaries all around the world who have said yes to Jesus even though it meant leaving family responsibilities, saying goodbye to family, going into danger, eating disgusting food, sleeping on the floor, without electricity, internet or phone.

But Complacency is worse than that.  Complacency doesn’t want to rock the boat by bringing Jesus into the school or the workplace.  Complacency believes in the separation of church and state.  Complacency won’t even talk about Jesus at parties with friends, for fear of offending someone.

Because of these attitudes, Jesus is no longer welcome in our schools or workplaces; Biblical Christianity has no say in lawmaking; and political correctness has become more important in American society than the salvation of souls.  Those people that you’re so worried about offending need to hear the Good News that Jesus died for them.  And the person you know with the hardest heart is someone who desperately needs Jesus.

Jesus was meek and gentle, and offensive to the people who rejected Him and His free offer of salvation.  He never backed down from telling the truth.  He is our Perfect Example, and like Him, we need to be ready to “offend” people with the truth.  But to do that, we’ve got to step out of our comfort zone.  We’ve got to give up comfortable Complacency.  We’ve got to pick up our cross and follow Him, even when that leads us away from family and friends.  And to do that we’ve got to trust God.

Here’s one last thought:  Have you ever read the list of the people who are going to hell in Revelation 21:8?  “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars —they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.”  Look who leads the list: not the murderers, not idolaters, but the cowardly!  Many times throughout the Bible we are encouraged to be strong, bold, and courageous.  Jesus said, “If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels,” (Mark 8:38).