I bet you get great satisfaction from your work

I have often had people comment that my job must be very rewarding. I have always agreed outwardly but never really felt it inwardly. At least, not in the way they are thinking.

I know when people make a comment about my work being satisfying they are talking about the social good that I do amongst the Deaf. They are assuming that the purpose and goal of my ministry is to help the perceived needs of the Deaf. In third world countries these needs might include help learning job skills and communication. One thing I have done in Mexico to further my goal was to work in a school for the Deaf. At the school I taught physics and math. I also had some classes on social skills and general manners. Mostly I taught basic forms of English (which I always thought was the craziest thing since they didn’t even know Spanish). But none of that was my ultimate goal. Those were simply a means to an end.

So what is my goal and from what do I draw my satisfaction in my work?

My goal is to see the Deaf accept Christ as their Savior. The reason is they need someone to save them from the wrath of God against their personal sin. The Deaf, like the rest of us, have one dominant problem: sin.

We don’t need a Savior to give us a better life. We don’t need Him to help us have a better job. Nor do we need Christ to solve any problems we might have. These MAY be a result of salvation and living a life based on biblical principles, but they are not the goal.

Sure, I get satisfaction from my work. But my satisfaction does not come when a person learns to read or gets a job. My satisfaction comes when I see a person accept Christ for who He is: a Savior from their sins and punishment in Hell. While God may grant them a better place in society, that is not my job nor my passion.

Book Review: Rex

I have seen the news reports about Rex and his amazing ability with the piano. Getting to read the story about him helps me see his accomplishments as even more miraculous.

The book is about the heartaches and victories that Rex’s mom experienced while trying to raise and train Rex up to this point in his life. He was born with a growth in his brain that caused blindness and autism. At 2 years old he was given a piano keyboard that became the magical door to open his mind to the outside world. He has grown to be a musical savant.

That is the part of the story I already knew. What I did not know about was the struggles that Rex’s mom had to endure to deal with his limitations on a practical level as a single mom. Also about the battles she faced just getting him into school and keeping him there.

As someone who has worked with the Deaf I have seen these same types of conflicts play out in the lives of many parents. There is always the feeling that, as a parent, you might have done something different to change the outcome. Or that you should have done more (or less) along the way to help, protect, guide or encourage your child in their development.

Ms. Lewis is careful to praise good teachers and scold bad ones. Some of the stories she tells in the book remind me of what took place in the early days of special education where the special ed teachers were not properly trained for the individual need, but were just teachers pulled from the standard classrooms to fill a position. However, this is not a story of a boy growing up blind in the 1950s, it is a story of a boy who is currently in the system. Some of these stories happened within the last couple of years.

The writing seemed a little flowery at the front of the book. It took me about 60 pages to “get into” the story. I don’t know if the writing got better or that I was finally drawn into the emotion of what was taking place, but it was certainly easier to read. By the time I hit half way through the book I had trouble putting it down.

This book is published by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a Christian publishing house. I expect that their books would have a clear religious bent. I finished the book wondering whether Rex’s mom really has a relationship with Christ, or just found psychological comfort in going to church.

It is a good book if you are looking for an emotional story. I feel like I know Rex in a small way. I am very excited about following him as he grows up.

Rex, Thomas Nelson, 2008, 242 pages.

Back to Georgia

I am not sure that being home is very exciting. I have been home quite a bit the last few weeks and I have not posted a whole lot. However, when we are on the road I seem to be too busy to get to the computer much.

We hit the road last Wednesday for our first trip since just before Christmas. We headed up to the Atlanta area for some meetings. On Wednesday we were in a church that is pastored by a college friend. It was great to be there with him. Since we graduated from college we have not been together. It was fun catching up a bit, but mostly talking about our respective ministries.

This weekend we were in a mission conference in a church that we had not been in before. But we do have previous contact with the associate pastor. He is a man who supported us when he was in another church. He also is someone who is very tuned in to missions. He put together a great conference and the church people executed the plan well. We had a great time getting to know the church.

I got to run a bit this week. I have not been consistent in my running since I started back. It may be a good thing though. I have run between 8 and 12 miles a week for the last 5 weeks. It is about 10 miles a week less than what I want, but I think that is helping me ease back into it without injury. I did 5 miles in the rain yesterday. Fortunately it was in the 50s. Today was 4 miles at 34 degrees and no rain.

I did a bunch of geocaching yesterday afternoon while the family was taking a nap. Most of the places I hit were out on nature trails in Carrollton, GA.

Book Review: Keeping the Mission in the Missionary

This book was written by my friend Jeff Amsbaugh. It is not an old book, but I was a bit surprised that I did not know about it. It really is a great book on a Biblical philosophy of missions. Dr. Amsbaugh uses the book of Philippians to build this philosophy. In fact the book could be read as a commentary on Philippians.

The book is written for pastors and churches so that they can know how to choose which missionaries and ministries they will support with their missions money. It is also an excellent book for missionaries to read about what churches expect of them.

Dr. Amsbaugh used a questionaire to petition information from mission board directors. These questions revolved around how missionaries should do their work and present their ministries. While there was good consensus on all the questions there was one area in which I found myself in disagreement with his conclusions. And I was not the only one. The book was published in 2002. I am curious to talk with him and see if his position has changed since then.

He discussed topics such as the missionary’s prayer life, his relationship with pastors and others on the field as well as the missionary’s vision, separation and commitment. The one issue in which I disagreed had to do with contentment. In a nutshell he wrote that missionaries should be content with a low socio-economic standard to be able to reach the nationals. While I agree the missionary should be content if that is what it takes to do the work, but it has been my experience that the missionary is expected to live at least a little better than the national. That does not mean that he should live in a mansion with 10 servants while the people around him starve and die from poverty. The consensus of those answering the questions agreed that the missionary did not have to live in poverty to reach the nationals.

That one issue aside, I think this is one of the best books I have read on the subject. I would like to have a copy of this book handy to pass out to missionaries along the way. There is so much a missionary can learn about what a pastor expects from those they support.

Dr. Amsbaugh is a gracious preacher. He has a way of making people feel comfortable in his presence even though he is a busy man in a large ministry. If you live in, or visit, the Columbus, Georgia area, I invite you to visit his church.

I was not able to find any on-line sources for the book. He probably just sells them directly from the church office. You can contact them through their website (WARNING: it works almost exclusively in IE).

Keeping the Mission in the Missionary, Jeff Amsbaugh, 2002, self-published, 230 pages.

Spinning Class

Bike crossingHave you ever done a spinning class? Intense!

I have been to 4 classes so far. Unfortunately I have not been able to string all 4 together. The first one I went to was just before I left town for a week. Same thing with the next class. Then the next two classes were on a Tuesday with the corresponding class for the week on Thursday: Christmas and New Year. I think these classes will be tougher if I actually do 2 in a week.

I have really enjoyed being pushed by someone else. I am working harder than I would if I were to just do it on my own. I know that spinning is great cross training for running, but is not a substitute for actually putting in the miles on the road. However, I am learning more about what my body is capable of handling by pushing my lungs and muscles past my perceived limits.

I am running a 5K this weekend and expect that I will do well because of these classes. Though I have not been able to run, my fitness has not suffered any because of the spinning and other exercises I have been doing. I think a PR may be in the cards this weekend.

Last week I was able to take my little brother to class with me. He struggled. It was very hard for him. I don’t say this to make fun of him, but I was pleased to see how hard it was for him to even try to keep up. It encouraged me to know that 4 years ago I was in the same place. When I started seriously exercising I was going to a class and dying in the back row wondering who sucked the oxygen out of the room. I could not believe how hard it was. I have come a long way since then. Seeing my brother struggle helped me see just how far I have come. It makes me thankful that I stuck it out and am much healthier today because of it.