Day One
Today is a pretty normal Tuesday for me…I’m on a plane (literally) heading somewhere to meet some people to talk about some exciting stuff, etc., but I cannot help but think of some other friends and what today holds for them.
First are the friends we met at Passion City Church Sunday night, a refugee family from Bhutan who just arrived in Atlanta on October 29. Dad, mom and their four children have been living in a UN Refugee Camp in northern Nepal for over a decade. No rights. No home. No freedom. This family, like 100,000 others of Napalese descent, while citizens of Bhutan, were expelled from their homes in an effort to cleanse Bhutan of any other national origins. Given they are actually Bhutanese, they cannot return to their ancestral homeland of Nepal, thus they landed in a refugee camp at the mercy of the international community.
Fortunately, this precious Bhutanese family made it to our city, and though the road ahead is uncertain, we are reaching out to them (and other families like them) through our partnership with World Relief. Over the past few weeks, the people of Passion City Church have provided the items necessary to furnish over 20 refugee apartments. [The UN mandates that 56 basic furniture and household items be in any apartment before a refugee family can be settled there.] Together, we have provided enough items to exceed our 20 apartment goal! It was beautiful seeing people gather for church with brooms, dishes, linens and tables!
So, in an effort to put a face on Atlanta’s refugee population, we invited this family to join us Sunday. For them, who are Buddhist, it was their first church gathering of any kind…and speak no English. (If you’ve ever sat through a long meeting in a language other than your own, you know how miserable that can be!) But nevertheless, we wanted to extend our hearts to them, share smiles that transcend language and be face to face with real people God is bringing into our very own space. Meeting them and having them with us was a huge honor.
Now for day one. Before they left as we were visiting through a Nepali-speaking translator I learned that the kids [14, 12, 10, 8] would be starting their first day of school yesterday. What!?!? They speak little or no English, have been in a new country for less than 10 days and now they are off to what is already challenging under the best of circumstances, their very first day of school!?!? So for a solid day I have been wondering how that must feel, what challenges it must bring and how they made it through day one. And, more than ever, I want to lead a church that cares and moves into action to help bridge the way for them in a brand new world.
Day One-Part Two.
As well, Hannah (from the Blog!) was with us at PCC. If you don’t know her by now, read down a few posts and get caught up on her story. It was so good having her with us, especially after all she has been through over the past two months. A few days before I saw her Sunday she sent this update:
“im doing good, seriously, it kind of blows my mind how much God has taken care of me and my family. in the midst of this life changing darkness, He has already given me back so many memories of my mom and new adventures with my dad and brother. a couple weeks ago, we took the great american family vacation to the grand canyon and las vegas, it could have only been improved with an rv and minivan! great times with the family but just a tip for daughters everywhere, dont go to vegas with your father and brother…it’s just awkward.
i got to attend the last passion city church and i have to say the message was great. to have a set of truths to speak to myself everyday is incredible. to put it into a set of simple truths from scripture makes it that much more real in my life. i came home and attempted, for a long time, to write the truths into bozokan, the language of the bozo people. after giving up several times and realizing the amount of language i still have to learn, i finally got most of it, and am excited to take them back with me to mali soon. hopefully in the future we will be hearing my bozo chief say “I am somebody, a saint, by God’s grace, in Christ!” that’s the mission, that’s the prayer, and i can’t wait for that day to come.
i’m heading back to mali on nov 9th, ahh scary and exciting all at the same time. however, God has prepared my heart for this, forcing me to put everything i have on him, leaning on Him to guide each step and expecting Him to do great things beyond my imagination among the bozo.”
So Hannah was with us Sunday and we had the chance to pray over her before she boarded a Monday flight for Mali. So that makes today day one for her…day one back in Africa, back among the Bozo, thousands of miles from home for the sake of the Gospel. I can’t stop thinking about Hannah today, wondering what it’s like being back among the people you love so much having lost the only mom you’ve ever had.
Lord, for each of these we are grateful…and blown away by the confidence we have in You and the assurance that your mercy comes up with the sun. We want to be your hands and feet to them as you live Your amazing life in and through us. Great is Your faithfulness.
Louie
November 10th, 2009 at 1:32 PM
And to that end, I say amen. God is good. God is faithful. God is trustworthy. God is bigger than our circumstances, or the circumstances of the whole world. It’s wonderful to see PCC investing themselves into a missional mindset, both through giving and supporting those who are on the frontlines or are brought from far away and have great need. Praying that many will be sent from PCC as missionaries, pastors, ministers, and messengers of the Love of Jesus Christ to the nations….
November 10th, 2009 at 9:07 PM
Thanks for your Blog.
On our Australia Idol show Sunday, Stan sang
Amazing Grace (My Chains).
http://www.australianidol.com.au/
Give God the Praise!!
mt
November 10th, 2009 at 11:53 PM
Oh….
….my heart
November 11th, 2009 at 12:46 AM
So happy and blessed to experience those stories first-hand and how they reflect the Greater story of the One!
November 11th, 2009 at 2:47 AM
Wow! Thank you for sharing.
Two amazing testimonies of God’s immeasurable love for all people.
Jesus is unstoppable!
The family from Bhutan is gorgeous!
Special greetings and a very special welcome to them, from Denver, CO.
And, how great is our God to link them with His church.
May the Love of Christ watch over them…and invite them to greater things.
Lots of love to them!
And, God bless Hannah!
The grace and love of Christ to the Bozo people! Wow!
Her chief declaring, “I am somebody, a saint, by God’s grace, in Christ!” YES, LORD!
Jesus is with you, Hannah, and He is very mighty to save!
Lots of prayers and blessings for you in the days and opportunities ahead.
The wonders of Jesus never cease.
His Spirit is on the move!
All praise to the glory of His great grace.
November 11th, 2009 at 2:34 PM
I am always encouraged and amazed at the ways God works. As I sit in my break room for my full time retail job, it is so exciting to read the stories and remember the work that God is doing here and around the globe. All glory, honor, and praise to our Lord!
November 12th, 2009 at 5:53 AM
Was there and it rocked!!! Love this church!!!
November 12th, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Sounds like an amazing nite @ Passion City Church. Praise God! That’s so cool what you guys are doing to help those in need.
Louie, any chance we can get a new podcast? Always love to hear what’s going on with Passion. :D
November 12th, 2009 at 3:31 PM
Louie-
This is a horrible way to contact you I know but I have searched the Internet high and low and have yet to find a way to contact you or a representative. How can I get in contact with you for an interview request?
(if anyone knows this feel free to reply)
Thank you!
November 12th, 2009 at 6:22 PM
Yes! God is Alive, in Us, and showing it to the world through us. GO PCC! Go Hannah, the Jesus is You is Awesome! The Bozo will praise God FOREVER because of Our Savior, Alive IN YOU! paul
November 13th, 2009 at 3:13 PM
Hello Louie, as always, thanks for these posts. I am continually blown away buy the little ways that God shows us he is here. Today I was checking out some things on the web and decided I would check the blogspot. I don’t check it everyday but very often. So what do I see today when I check the site but the “Day One” post and the photo of the Bhutanese family. I had also seen your post about “120 Hours” or something like that where you first mentioned the Bhutanese a few weeks ago. WOW! It made me smile. God moving among a nation.
Recently in the past few months our church here in PA has been ministering to a Bhutanese family as well. Refugees who have moved into the Harrisburg area. And like PCC we have met many of their physical needs by helping them with housing, furniture, jobs and so on. They have also been attending our church service of their own free will. Several individuals within our congregation are teaching them English and also ministering to their spiritual need of Christ. Recently one of the young girls asked how she could have assurance of salvation. Apparently she had and uncle in one of the refugee camps who was a pastor.
I just find all this very exciting to see how God is using PCC and the church I attend in a similar way to reach into the lives of these Bhutanese.
Thanks for keeping us informed.
See you at Passion2010.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:24 AM
I wanted to share with Louie and Chris a way they helped me so much the past two weeks from the message given at the last church service . . . . is there an email address I can send them a note to thank them and tell them more?
November 17th, 2009 at 12:37 PM
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning,
new every morning…
Great is Thy faithfulness, O LORD!
Great is Thy faithfulness.
Indeed wherever we go, His grace always follows us…
And His love always finds us…
Jesus, nothing compares to the greatness of Your love;
Oh how overwhelming is Your love!
November 17th, 2009 at 1:17 PM
Hannah…I am thinking about you and lifting you up to the Father today! You are loved, known and believed in.
November 18th, 2009 at 1:59 AM
Wow, God never ceases to amaze! So cool to read about the Bhutanese family PCC is helping out and also really encouraging to read an update from Hannah! :) So brave of her to go back to Mali so soon after her mum passing away but at the same time it’s awesome to read more of the passion He’s laid on her heart for the Bozo.
I have been keen for awhile now to volunteer at this Refugee settlement centre here in Auckland (NZ) as I would love to practically help refugees settle in here and get adjusted + i just love meeting and mixing with people from overseas in general :) So will hopefully try and volunteer with them in the new year.