Pastor's Reflections

75% Survival Rate

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75% Survival Rate

Pastor Rey recently returned from Africa where he had a chance to meet amazing people, to be reawakened in his faith. He was shown miraculous acts of God and was inspired by the people he met.

None of us would settle for those odds.  In almost any arena of our life, 75% is not good enough especially when it comes to our children.  I wouldn't accept a 75% survival rate for my children, family or friends.  That would mean 25% would not make it.  That's not good enough.  I'm sure anyone of us would do whatever was necessary to ensure the number increases so that our loved one would survive.

I met a man named Nehemiah who would gladly exchange a 75% survival rate than what he experienced in his childhood.  His mom and dad had 16 children.  Only 4 survived.  The other 12 children died of malaria, a preventable and treatable disease.  The cost of the medicine was a few dollars, but it might as well have been millions of dollars for Nehemiah's parents.  So Nehemiah being the fourth youngest buried his three younger siblings.  His family's survival rate was 25%, a tragic figure that is sadly common for many in Africa.

Nehemiah did survive, through many miraculous acts of God. As he recounted his story to us, tears flowed from his eyes.  He explained how as an orphan he felt powerless, vulnerable, and headed for a life of misery.  He saw it in his older siblings and in the children all around him.  What chance could he have to escape?  When he lost his father, he wasn't even allowed to go to the public school so he would sit outside by the window listening to the teacher 'stealing education.'

By the grace of God, he was able to receive a first class education in Nairobi, which led to a great paying job far away from the misery of his past.  But God called Nehemiah to return.  To start a school and several orphanages and to care for the children who are now facing what he faced as a child.

 

 

 

Now Nehemiah wants to serve God by changing the survival rate.  He wants children to experience the love of their Heavenly Father.  So he has started a school in the Soweto slums with 3 orphanages.  He has also started a school back in his village with 1 orphanage.  In total he is serving close to 2000 children.  And he is not settling for a 75% survival rate.  He is chasing after Gods best for each and every child.

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My Daughter's Father

I was reading the Quran yesterday in Sura 112, Sura al-Ihklas, it speaks of how

لم يلد ولم يولد ولم يكن له كفوا احد.

He does not have a child, nor is he begotten and there is not one equal to him

But in Hosea 1.10, it is written,

يقال لهم لستم شعبي عوضا عن ان يقال لهم ابناء الله الحي

Instead, those who are called 'not my people, they will be called children of the living God.

I haven't been able to shake that thought. How sad it is to not think of oneself as God's child. I always think of myself as one dearly loved by God. As a child should be. It is such a reminder that it is God's Spirit within me that calls out, “abba.” Now that I'm about to have a baby, I am so blessed to know that her spirit will call out to God's, prompted by a heavenly father to whom she will always belong.

I thank the Lord that my daughter can think of God as her good father. Before I ever met her, I knew that her spirit is calling out to God's. That she will always have a God who calls her daughter.

This blog reflection was taken from Pastor Ben's personal page. If you'd like to hear more about the work Ben and all of the pastors from Washington cathedral are doing, check out our website to hear about all of the different events and ministries we're doing.

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What’s the Appropriate Response to Witnessing a Miracle?

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By Pastor Rey Diaz

Last week a friend of mine asked me, "What is the appropriate response to experiencing a miracle?" Shout? Jump? Scream? Cry? My friend experienced a supernatural healing from a cyst in his left vocal cord and his reaction (You can read about it and see the before and after pictures here: www.michaelpatz.com).

That same night, I experienced a miracle. And it was my turn to write - 'God is amazing. There are not words. I'm stunned. I'm shocked. I’m utterly overwhelmed.'

It's not an easy thing to witness a miracle. To see pure beauty. Relentless grace. Unending love. What's the appropriate reaction? I want to cry. I want to shout. I want dance. I want to fall on my knees.

A life permanently changed. A child finds their Heavenly Father's love and experienced his grace. Rescued. Redeemed. Transformed.

This is Dulce when I first met her near the garbage dump.

Dulce means "sweet." But Dulce's life has been anything but sweet. She was raised in the garbage dump by her siblings. No father. An absent mother. Her grandparents took her in but they had to continue working in the garbage dump to have food for their grandchildren.

So Dulce and her siblings learned to scavenge in the garbage dump. Last year, Dulce's brother, Kevin, was run over by a garbage dump, dying instantly. She grieved. She cried. But life continued. So it seemed her name was a cruel joke. There was nothing sweet about her life. 'Bitter' would have been more accurate.

 Psalms 68:5 - A father to the fatherless…

But God intervened. It's His modus operandi… To offer hope when it seems hopeless. To rescue when it seems impossible. To give life to the lifeless.

God intervened through AFE. Through people who were willing to serve. Dulce's family received a house. Her siblings started school. The family found support at church.

The AFE nursery took in Dulce. They loved her, protected her, and fed her while her grandmother and grandfather were at the dump during the day. Dulce then started kindergarten. And she has just graduated. She is on her way.

Why can't she be a future leader in Honduras? Why can't she bring about the change the country so desperately needs? Why can't she be an example to all the other thousand of children who are still captured in the cycle of poverty? So I ask again, what’s the appropriate response to witnessing a miracle?

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