It is far from original with me that our God is a God of interruptions. This is true in Scripture and it is true in our lives today. It is the latter of these two that has come to rest in this blog. In the words of my friend and most trusted idea person, Michael Canale, “This blog is one that came while we were doing other blogs.” To rephrase John Lennon, this blog is what happened while we were busy making other plans. A blog on Elijah, mountaintop experiences and the treacherous downhill climb afterwards, has to wait another week. This week, we were interrupted and, rather than decrying it, we have chosen to embrace it.
Who said it better than C.S. Lewis when he wrote:
“The truth is, of course, that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s life – the life God is sending one day by day.” (The Collected Works of C.S. Lewis)
The “real” of which he speaks often starts with time and circumstance from the ordinary into the extraordinary. So it was this week. It began that simply.
Michael, a celebrity hair colorist, was in Washington DC, and on Monday night, chose to have dinner 500 yards away from his hotel at an Ethiopian restaurant recommended by his driver, Claudius. He was immediately impressed by the fact that this establishment was still celebrating Easter, though, for most, this Christian day of observance had come and gone. As someone who listens to Christmas music year round in his car, extending the celebration and pure joy of the season, he was touched that this Ethiopian restaurant was continuing to appreciate Easter. Also spiritually moving to him was the Christian gift shop attached to the restaurant. He was drawn to look further inside. There he saw a card depicting Jesus knocking on the door on one side and a picture of what appeared to be a church on the other. The card commemorated an Ethiopian church’s fundraising event held on October 27, 2018. Michael was touched by the amazing and profound picture of Jesus as he metaphorically knocks on the doors of our hearts. Seeing him admiring this, the proprietor of the restaurant/gift shop, insisted that he wanted to gift the card to Michael, who graciously accepted. He took it back to his hotel and would return home to California with it in a few days.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, I, Jill, was quickly going through the day’s emails in my phone when I came across one that always gave me pause. It was from a non-profit, Bridges of Hope International, an organization from whom I have received daily emails in the form of prayer requests, for around 8-10 years. I learned about their ministry at an organization called The Barnabas Group, which, under the direction of Jim and Suzy West, quarterly showcases worthy non-profits. All those years ago, the dedication of Bridges of Hope International and its’ leaders, Dennis and Susan Wadley, had made them stand out among the others. I got on their email list and had prayed about their prayer needs daily for all these years.
This Tuesday night email had joyfully interrupted my evening as I went item by item, lifting each up in prayer to God. The last of these requests prompted something more. Dennis and Susan were leaving for a refugee camp in Ethiopia on Friday and would be local until then. They were asking for used phones and iPads to take to the theology students and professors, sponsored by Bridges of Hope International, in helping 2,200 refugees. (Many of these refugees are women and children displaced and traumatized by the conflict, i.e., civil war, now taking place in Ethiopia.) Susan would be counseling rape victims and other traumatized refugees, as she is specially trained to do this.
Who are the theology students and professors? They are part of a Theology College in Ethiopia which received an intense interruption in their lives when refugees fleeing the violence started pouring into their region, desperate for food as well as medical and psychological healing. Answering God’s call to action, they interrupted their study of Scripture and started washing feet, so to speak. The “real life” C.S. Lewis spoke of, changed their plans in midstream. They now needed phones and iPads to communicate among themselves in various locations where their new mission is taking them.
I called my son, John, and he immediately desired to donate a used iPhone and iPad. I texted Dennis Wadley as to this, put him in communication with John and started to go on about my evening…when God interrupted. His hand on my shoulder, He said very clearly that He was calling me to much more than this with regard to the Ethiopian refugees. I knew His voice so I walked over and picked up my phone and called Dennis Wadley. I asked if I could arrange for them to have additional phones, etc. He said that there was a much more urgent need and that it was for food because these people were starving. They feed children and pregnant women first, but there was never enough. The hunger of these refugees was overwhelming their limited provisions.
We are taught to let our hearts break for what breaks the heart of God . I knew that this was what was happening and that I was to do more. The next morning I called local churches, family and friends like Lynn and John Seifker. More support was raised for this cause. That night, I told Michael Canale about my day and how I was on mission for these refugees in Ethiopia. He reminded me of what he had said to me on Monday night, that is, of his experience that evening in the Ethiopian restaurant and the picture card of Jesus knocking on the door. He recalled the name and picture of the Ethiopian church. Right away, he saw this as a mission and, as always, he had the ideas to fulfill it. We needed to contact the Ethiopian Church on the card and other similar Ethiopian churches in different areas. There were many people we also needed to bring into this. Serendipity or divine appointment? He said the latter. I agreed.
STILL, the next day, I was forging ahead with the blog I meant to post today – Elijah and the 400 prophets of Baal story. Yes, there was this mission for the refugees, one for which I shared Michael’s devotion. But until he said, as earlier stated, “Sometimes, there are blogs that come while we’re doing other blogs,” I didn’t even think about interrupting the Elijah blog with this one. What is it about interruptions that make us resist them? We all have blind spots; may we all have friends like Michael, wise in God and His ways.
So here is the central point of this blog: Please contact Bridges of Hope International (Bridges@Worldwide.org or Dennis@Buck4Good.com) and get involved in helping these refugees.
There is no intention in this blog to politically analyze or take sides in this complex conflict with almost unanswerable issues that precipitated what is unfolding in Ethiopia – millions of refugees being attacked and deprived of basic sustenance.
I’m praying that this is a providential time for you to embrace a divine interruption in your day and even life, and to go on mission for innocent Ethiopian civilians caught in the middle. Like Michael’s card, Jesus stands at the door knocking – let’s open the doors of our hearts broken now for what breaks His.