Gecko Tales

Seen Jesus Lately?


Ever ask yourself, where is Jesus these days? Just one look at what is happening on this globe is enough to make you wonder; foolish politicians leading their countries into war, corruption, sickness, death, poverty, child trafficking, and natural disasters, etc. Why doesn’t he just show up and clean our mess up?

On more personal level, we might ask, where is Jesus in my life? He hasn’t shown up recently. We are often so busy and so driven that we miss the opportunities where Jesus waits to speak into our lives through the small and ordinary things of life. After wrestling our way through each day, we come home through grisly traffic, and crash for a while, help take care of the kids, then get ready to face the same routine all too quickly after a few short hours of sleep. We tend to think that if we just make it through the week to church on Sunday, Jesus will show up and hopefully do something noticeably spiritual in our lives. We might miss a whole lot of Jesus during the week if that is part of our unconscious thinking.

Monday, the Youth Commission staff, advisors and volunteers left for a ‘team building’ retreat in Koh Kong. It was a ten hour drive over rough mountain passes. Our twenty seat mini-bus just barely made it through in some spots. We used a ferry to cross four rivers to get here. Trevor, a friend of mine called me on my cell, and was shocked to find out I was in Koh Kong. He was even more shocked to discover we had chosen Koh Kong for the retreat. “Why” he begged to know. “Part of developing leaders and building teams are allowing people to make decisions, make mistakes, and then let them deal with consequences of those decisions,” I told him. “Hmmmmmn” he said.

Anyway, I had been wondering recently myself where Jesus has been these days (and please don’t try to set me straight theologically with Bill Bright’s ‘Faith, Fact, and Feeling Train’) both on a global and personal level. Well, Jesus showed up during that ten hour trip, because there was no way our bus could’ve made it over those muddy, rutted, potholed mountain roads with out divine assistance.

Seila has been pretty busy, so he left it up to me to plan the retreat. I’ve been to too many retreats, or seminars where the focus is on a speaker who speaks at you, and you are but a passive participant. As a community of Jesus’ followers, we all have something of value to speak into each others lives, but it seems like we are rarely given that kind of opportunity. So, I planned in time for each staff person, advisor, and volunteer to present ‘My Story’ through drawings, photos, graphs, or Power Point presentations. Each person had 10 minutes to share, 5 minutes for the audience to ask questions or give an encouraging comment, then two people who the presenter knew best would come forward, lay hands on them, and then pray a blessing on them. Almost all of the Cambodian staff/volunteers broke down during their presentation as they recalled the hardships of growing up the early post-Pol Pot Cambodia. Most pulled out worn, torn, tattered, and grainy black and white photographs of themselves with their families when they were small, causing them to choke up as they were again reminded loved ones, a mother, a father, or a sibling who died in the harsh years of the early eighties under the Vietnamese occupation. Many of them when they were but children, but because of difficult family situations, were sent to live with the families of relatives or friends where they were treated harshly and had to work long hours as children, to make up for room and board. Some were crushed because, although they studied very hard, they weren’t able to pass the exam for earning a high school diploma because of health or financial reasons. All their stories were unique and different, yet they were the same. All had been hopeless, and had found hope as friends or relatives had shared Jesus with them. Jesus not only showed up at the right time in their lives, he showed up at our retreat and met all of us through our shared stories. It was an extremely powerful and moving experience to be present during the transparent disclosure of their lives. I felt it was a great privilege to be able to listen to their stories and learn how Jesus met them in their suffering. We all experienced each other’s lives, and met Jesus in the process.

The next morning I reluctantly got out of bed. Seila was still sleeping. The Benadryl I gave him last night for his sinus problem must have knocked him out! Still a little groggy and grumpy, I went outside. We were staying in a small hotel on the border of Thailand and Cambodia which is also on the coast. The back of our room butts up against a large saltwater bay. “Where is Jesus today, I wondered?” I felt like death warmed over as I walked over to the nearby restaurant. As I sat down to wait for a strong steaming cup of Cambodian coffee, the sun was coming up behind me, and I was facing toward Thailand . Although the new day was looking quite overcast, the first rays of the sun were breaking through, and reflecting off the clouds in front me. The water began to sparkle a bit. I began to think of what an awesome and creative God we have who has made all this, and what a powerful God we have who sustains it all. There in the restaurant, was the cutest little Cambodian girl, maybe 2 years old, playing nearby-I saw Jesus in her big brown eyes. I’ve been seeing Jesus’ finger prints quite a bit on Cambodian people lately.

When we first got back to Cambodia a few months ago, I’d drive down the road to our new house and would see my Cambodian neighbor’s blank looks, their stares, and frowns. One day I decided to smile at every one of them. Guess what? They all smiled back. Maybe my face hadn’t been all that accommodating to them??? My new past-time is trying to find a bit of Jesus in everyone I meet in a day. And when I do, it reminds me that he is never as far away as I might think. So yes, I think I have seen Jesus lately.

Indictment

I was hungry,

And you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger.

I was imprisoned,

And you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.

I was naked,

And in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.

I was sick,

And you knelt and thanked God for your health.

I was homeless,

And you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.

I was lonely

And you left me alone to pray for me.

You seem so holy, so close to God,

But I am still very hungry -- and lonely -- and cold

(by Oscar Camillo)