A Conflicted Calling

Sunday we had a couple speak at church that are doing mission work in Africa. Besides being totally inspiring, they brought up a really good point that I had only thought about in passing, but never in any depth.

The wife told us about her willingness to follow her husbands calling to go to Africa. She even thought that maybe it was hers as well. Then when the violence broke out in Kenya recently (right where they are living), she went many sleepless nights struggling with God for putting her and her family in that situation.

During one of her sleepless nights she read through James, and realized that this was actually her calling as well. Since then she has been willing to do whatever, and follow God wherever, this called for.

So my question is this, what do you do when you and your spouse have conflicted callings? What if God is calling you to go to Africa (or any of a million other callings), but your spouse isn’t getting that word?

Filed under: Africa, Callings, Faith, God, Missionaries, Prayer, Submission

Pray For Africa

Sometimes I get blind-sighted by a real world happening outside of my little bubble. It’s pitiful how often I get upset by the smallest of things. Especially when you juxtapose it against this email I just received from our friend and missionary in Kenya this afternoon…

Please, PRAY and please I will understand if you do not respond to this message, I would rather you spend your time in prayer just now. What you are reading or seeing on the news about ethnic cleansing in Eldoret, Kenya is true! The Kalenjin tribe is killing the Kikuyu tribe. For you who do not know, my wife is Kikuyu. We are reading from CNN webpage of about 300 dead!

When the election results were announced, instant rioting and killing took place. (The current president is a Kikuyu, while the main opposition party is represented by the Luo, Luhyia and Kalenjin). We have an area close to our house (about 1 a mile as the crow flies) that is mainly Kikuyu. They were attacked. A barn full of straw went up in flames, about ¼ mile from our house. The next day on the 31st we heard that 10,000 other Kalenjins were on the way to help defeat the Kikuyus. We decided to leave in the afternoon. We had to come with police escort and passed three road blocks of stones in the road.

We feel safer in this part of town, even though we can hear the gun shots. We did stand in line today and 4 ½ hours later came out with some food from the supermarket. The fighting is taking place on all sides of us and we hear the road to the airport is also blocked.

We are not in as bad condition as some of the brethren. They are sleeping in the forests at night. One brother provided a place for three Kikuyu families last night that were having their homes burned. They said that they would burn his house down tonight. Another family is also hosting a Kikuyu family at their home. Pray for these Kalenjin brethren.

The average Kenyan does not want what is going on, but there are gullible people willing to do wrong at the instigation of certain leaders.

As I said, please, what we need now is prayer.

Please pray for Africa.

Filed under: Africa, Evil, Faith, Missionaries, Politics, Prayer, Violence

Movie Reviews

Mystic River — I watched this movie because I liked the poster. Plain and simple. So when I popped in the DVD I had no expectations whatsoever. But to my surprise I found a really nice movie, with Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon characters that I enjoyed more than most. At the beginning I was a little worried when the one boy got in the car with those guys, but luckily it didn’t go too far down that road. I really enjoyed this story, especially the twist at the end. The only problem I had with this one was how Kevin Bacons character seemed to look the other way on Sean Penn’s character at the end.

Bee Movie — How can you not enjoy this one? My family filled up a couple rows in the local $3 theater and had a great time. Animated movies are so smart these days. They have all the elements the kids need for a great time, and some smart humor in there for the parents. Seinfeld did an outstanding job in his first real gig since quitting TV. The whole time I kept thinking that he just thought, “Let’s pick a subject and just make a movie about it. Hey, how about Bee’s. What’s funny about bee’s?” And then he proceeded to make a must own in the Hawkins household. Good stuff Seinfeld!

End of the Spear — Another movie that was slow to gain momentum. Not that it ever hit above 45mph, but it did get interesting and hold my attention. Probably because it was a true, and interesting story. I’ve got to hand it to missionaries. They sure have bigger hearts than I do. As for the movie itself, I’d say it was better than Facing the Giants, and The Last Sin Eater as far as that goes, but it was definitely my least favorite of this batch of movies.

The Crow — Surprisingly a hit with me. Throughout the entire movie I kept thinking that I normally would hate a movie like this, but for some reason I enjoyed it. It felt like a remake of The Joker to be honest, but it was fun. It’s amazing that they still released this movie after what happened to Brandon Lee during the filming, but I guess they had it all done, so they might as well, right? I don’t think I’ll check out The Crow II though. Unless someone really thinks I should.

Ray — Quite a bit slower, and more depressing than Walk the Line, but in the end it was worth the time. Jamie Foxx was the man! Again, I love learning more about people, and I sure didn’t know most of that about Ray Charles. He overcame a ton of obstacles to become successful, but boy did he have some demons along the way. Tonia asked in the end how his wife could stay with him all that time. It’s a good question. Was it because she was dumb, or was it because she truly loved him for better or worse? Tough one.

Filed under: Culture, Jerry Seinfeld, Missionaries, Movies, Ray Charles, Reviews

John Rambo

I have to say, this trailer started out with a pretty solid Christian message. Inspiring actually when you think about all the missionaries willing to put their lives on the line for others. But then it takes a Ramboesque turn and people start blowing up. Not that I wasn’t expecting or wanting that in a new Rambo, but I think the message of killing a bad guy to make you feel better in the middle of a somewhat Christian story line is going to confuse some people.

(ht: ragamuffinsoul)

Filed under: Missionaries, Rambo, Trailers, YouTube