New Creation Productions: Lech Walesa and Solidarity in Poland

New Creation Productions: Lech Walesa and Solidarity in Poland:

"Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future”

St Augustine is quoted as saying that “every saint has a past and every sinner has a future” and it is in the possibility of change… of being transformed by grace through the love of a community, that is our hope as we all struggle through this earthly life towards eternity. 

Those living on the streets of Manila who have been abandoned and cast out by society, left feeling unloved, unwanted and who often turn to an array of vices just to ease the pain of life are finding a reason to hope again through the efforts of the workers at the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Foundation and of its founder Fr Flavie. 

Welcomed into the center, with an opportunity to wash, receive clean clothes and eat well is just the beginning. They can pick-up their education through the alternative learning system and gain spiritual formation and healing through counseling and an understanding ear. Although often a long process, not without failures, many emerge with a renewed heart and a new vision for their future. 

Many have left the streets and found work through partnerships with local businesses in the construction industry; one HIV+ patient now lives in a shelter where he works in their office. Another man is on his way home now, to a distant province to be reunited with his waiting family after 20 years on the streets, reconciled with the father at last, as he brings home a new faith and hope. Imagine that reunion for a moment, after so long, after so many trials and loneliness and the pain of separation. If it sounds like a Gospel story: it is. 

An insight shared with me was a very simple but important one. A man was given a birthday party at the center. He was 43 years old, and was very touched because this was the first time he had been celebrated, the first birthday party he ever had. It was a new beginning too. 

People who wind up on the streets have had very difficult lives and often very traumatic and dehumanizing experiences, often deprived of love and care that we all need, to thrive. 

Remember them. Understand them. Reach out to them.

To help out or for more info see:-    Arnold Janssen Foundation

The Lost Sheep

I read a quote by G.K Chesterton describing how God brought someone to repentance: - “I caught him with an unseen hook and an invisible line which is long enough to let him wander to the ends of the world and still bring him back with a twitch upon the thread” 

This is surely reassuring for anyone with a family member who has strayed from the path, however far they may be from God at this moment, it’s not out of the reach of His mercy. That said we must play our part in seeking out the lost. 

I read the autobiography of Joshua Blahyi , a Liberian Warlord and pagan priest, once described as the most evil man in the world. He would certainly be a contender for that title as his life was truly horrific. As a pagan priest he was required to offer human sacrifices (usually children) by his deity to give him more power, cannibalism also formed part of this ritual. As a Warlord he earned the moniker “General Butt Naked” as that is how he ran into battle with bands of child soldiers he had recruited. He claims to have been responsible for 20,000 deaths.

A group of Interdenominational ministers in Monrovia (Liberia’s Capital) felt led by the Holy Spirit to start to pray and fast for Joshua. They prayed and fasted for 54 days before one of them visited the military compound and spoke with and even prayed for Joshua. Later they moved into a building opposite the compound and held prayer meetings every night inviting him over to join them. In the midst of one battle Joshua even had a vision of Jesus who told him to ‘repent and live or refuse and die’. After all the prayer, fasting and intercession to win his soul, Joshua did surrender to God and was delivered of his past and set free. 

He had much to atone for, seeking out his victim’s families to ask forgiveness, rehabilitating child soldiers and of course sharing the good news of the Gospel. 

The ‘twitch upon the thread’ involved a mighty spiritual battle to wrestle Joshua from Satan’s grip and consistent intercession on his behalf by those who loved him enough to make the effort.

Exodus

 

At a local park in Manila, I saw a piece of the Berlin wall; a gift from the German government. One side is covered with colorful graffiti, the other still the original bland grey: metaphors to the two ideologies that it separated.

It put me in mind of a story from the cold war days of a daring escape from East Germany to the West. A family worked for months gathering materials and making a hot air balloon out of cloth, filled with hot air using cooking gas cylinders mounted on a cage which would carry them from a field (a few miles east of Berlin) in the dead of night to freedom. On the 2nd attempt they were successful; evading capture by the Stasi or secret Police by only a few minutes.

What also struck me though, was whilst most people behind the iron curtain were unhappy with their captivity and longed for freedom, only a small proportion tried to escape, they accepted captivity rather than risking all for freedom.

Childhood sacramental programs end with Confirmation and then there is often little direction towards Spiritual growth in our church. No wonder so many men are taken captive by sin, addictions or boredom.

Most ancient cultures brought their men to maturity through training of the body, mind and Spirit through a process of initiation and fellowship. Like the Spartan ‘agoge’ prepared young men to become warriors, we need to fill this gap or the souls of our men will become flabby, weak, desensitized and deadened.

Earlier this year I embarked on a journey, a 90 day spiritual exercise, developed by the church in America. It includes prayer, scripture, moderate ascetic practices, and ideally fellowship with a group of like-minded men within the parish.

These components are not to become Pharasitical rules and obligations for their own sake but rather tools God uses to deliver, strengthen and equip us for a new life with Him. A new life in the Freedom of the Spirit is both available and wonderful; but you will have to fight for it.

The Little-known Origins of a Famous Gospel Song from India

 For more than 20 years Asia Harvest has supported Garo evangelists from northeast India through our Asian Workers’ Fund, as they have taken the Gospel to unreached people groups in their part of the world.

Often, Christians are unaware of the origins of many of the songs we love to sing. In this brief email we would like to share the background of one famous: “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.”

In the hills of northeast India live the Garo tribe, who number more than one million people. For centuries they were feared as a primitive head-hunting tribe, but in the most recent Indian census, over 95 percent of the Garo declared themselves to be Christians. Here is one reason why...

In the late 1800s, many missionaries came to the state of Assam in northeast India to spread the Gospel. They succeeded in converting a man named Nokseng, his wife, and his two children. Nokseng’s faith proved contagious, and many villagers began to accept Jesus.

The village chief, angry at the prospect of losing control, summoned all the villagers. He demanded Nokseng’s family to publicly renounce their faith or face execution.

Moved by the Holy Spirit, Nokseng said: “I have decided to follow Jesus.”

Enraged at his refusal to deny Christ, the chief ordered his archers to shoot the two children. As both boys lay twitching on the ground, the chief asked, “Will you deny your faith? You have lost both your children. You will lose your wife also.”

But Nokseng replied: “Though no one joins me, still I will follow.”

The chief was beside himself with fury and ordered Nokseng’s wife to be shot with arrows. In a moment she joined her children in death. Now the chief said for the last time: “I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live.” In the face of death, Nokseng did not waver, and made his final memorable statement:

“The cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back.”

He was killed like the rest of his family, but a miracle took place. The chief was moved by Nokseng’s faith and he wondered, “Why would Nokseng and his family die for a Man who lived in a far-away land some 2,000 years ago? This God must have remarkable power, and I too want to taste that faith.”

In a spontaneous confession, the chief declared, “I too belong to Jesus Christ!” When the crowd heard this from the mouth of their chief, the whole village accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. Later, Nokseng’s words became a beloved song of the Garo Christians, and was later translated into English and sung around the world.

My friends had one last request: Would I help them get to Heaven? (from Aleteia website)

 

How a "nudge" to take a walk at an odd time allowed the Holy Spirit to bring about something wonderful

The following is a true story. Ever since it happened it has been a part of me. It is a love story written by the hand of God Himself.

It was the spring of 2014. Ed and Cathy had been my neighbors for less than a year. They had met when Ed was 60 and Cathy was 40, and neither had ever been married. They fell in love, tied the knot and had just celebrating 25 years of wedded bliss.

However, there was a problem. Ed’s prostate cancer had returned and was destroying him quickly. Meanwhile, Cathy had been diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma. She told me about it when she had “maybe” six months to live. Being a prostate cancer survivor, myself, and as my first wife had died of melanoma, I was able to discuss their cancers openly with them. They knew I understood.

My daily routine usually starts around 5:00 a.m. with a one-hour walk. For some reason one Thursday, I felt nudged to take another walk in the heat of the later afternoon. Reluctantly, I obeyed it.

I headed down the street and there was Cathy, standing on her front lawn, supported by her walker. Realizing that she was fighting to hold herself up I hurried over, asking if everything was all right.

“I was waiting for you, Larry. I need to talk to you.”

I was dumbfounded. “I never walk at this time of day and you say you were waiting for me?”

“I just knew you were coming by. I can’t explain it.”

I had a chill run down my back. I leaned against her SUV as she leaned heavily on her walker. “You know Ed is dying, right?”

“Yes, Cathy, I know, he talked with me about it. And your prognosis? Any change?”

She smiled and looked me right in the eye. “They told me I only have a few weeks left.”

I tightened my lips, took a breath, and asked, “What can I do for you?”

They knew I was Catholic and an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. Cathy asked me if I could bring a priest. She told me that they were non-practicing Catholics and had not been to church in years. It was time for them to “make things right with God.”

I promised to put in a call to Father as soon as I got home. Cathy thanked me saying “That’s why I was out here, waiting for you.”

As I slowly walked her back to the house, she spoke on of her husband — how she wished she could ease his suffering and how wonderful it might be if they could go for a bicycle ride just one more time. “I thank God for every moment we had together,” she said.

I checked in on Ed, and, as Cathy excused herself, we chatted for about ten minutes. Ed’s conversation was all about Cathy: how he wished he could ease her suffering and how God had been so good to him allowing him to find such a great woman to share his life with.

When God is present sometimes it is hard to breathe. I took a deep breath.

Once home, I called our newly ordained priest, Father Scott. He came over the next day and spent about an hour with Ed and Cathy. Ed and the young priest both had roots in Roanoke, Virginia, and talked and laughed and had a raucous good time together. Even though more than 50 years separated them, it didn’t matter. It was like they’d grown up together. It was beautiful.

Father heard their confessions, anointed both Ed and Cathy, and gave them Holy Communion. He told them he would come back the first chance he could, but with Holy Week coming up, he would be busy. They all hugged and said good-bye. That Palm Sunday I had the honor of bringing them Holy Communion.

Easter Sunday I was again privileged to bring Ed and Cathy Holy Communion. They were lying next to each other in bed, holding hands. Ed smiled and said, “Larry, we are so happy. This is the greatest Easter we ever had.”

He turned and looked at his wife, who was smiling lovingly at him. She reached over and wiped his wet, happy eyes. They stared into each other’s eyes and I thought they were seeing into each others very souls. It was a moment filled with a shared spirituality I had never seen before, or experienced, but I could actually feel it. I have no doubt that at that moment Jesus was there with them holding their hands in His.

Ed died the week after Easter. A week later Cathy moved into hospice. She lived another two weeks.

As for me, I thank God for their friendship and for being a part of their final journey. Sometimes I like to think that I took two people in love to the airport and watched them get on a plane for a a true flight to paradise.

The Miracle of Medjugorje (English version)

The Miracle of Medjugorje

You Tube Link