" Now
to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly
than all that we ask or think, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen."Ephesians 3:20-21 It was the month of February. The year was 1993. I
was part of a small group of short term missionaries who traveled to
Orissa, India. This group consisted of 7 people - kind of a holy number.
Three came from Virginia and Maryland. Erwin DuBois from
Endicott and Kit Hart from Nichols were in their their
seventies. They very young at heart. It was an exciting
and invigorating trip. We flew on a 747 jumbo jet. Our flight
layover was in Amsterdam, one of the busiest airports in the
world. We had change planes after a few hours layover. As we were
about to board the connecting flight to India our youngest member
discovered that he had misplaced his passport. We looked for it and could
not find it, and panic began to take over. What could you do, as you
could not travel without a passport? We began to pray frantically.
We spoke with airline spokespersons, who could not do anything. Panic and
prayer. . . We were just about to board the connecting flight when word
came that they had located the passport in a trash can. The
cleaning crew had cleaned up. Praise the Lord that the KLM staff were
brilliant in finding the passport. We went to India where we had a
blessed and anointed time. We were there for one month. It was
powerful. We returned back to the America the Beautiful, rejoicing and
praising the Lord. We returned from Orissa where it was springtime, the
flowers in full bloom, the trees were budding, the spring birds were making
melodious sonnets. The temperatures were in the 90s, sunny, and
brilliant. We returned in the first part of March. In fact,
it was March 13, 1993. The blizzard of 1993 blanketed the Southern
Tier of New York with a massive snowfall that literally crippled the
region for 3 days.
24
years later Alice and I were in Boston, staying with a beautiful family in
their beautiful loft-style home with 12 feet ceilings. The man shared
that his dad was a Jew from Austria who immigrated to America as a young
teenager. The Lord blessed him immensely. and he lived his American
dream. The Lord blessed him in such a way that he was inducted to serve
in the US Diplomatic Corps. His mother had come from Norway.
The wife of the man we stayed with came from the state of Maine. My host
(the husband) graduated from MIT and is a Professor of
Engineering at Northwestern University. Their home schooled their four
children, who later went to University and graduate school. They all
serve the Lord in the church at large. It was great blessing to share
Christian fellowship. We attended their church last Sunday
morning. (This is also the church where Janice, Jeremy, and their
family worship.) We were welcomed with much love and grace. We
received wonderful and generous hospitaltiy.
By
the weekend the news teams had started forecasting the ferocity of Stella. The
city of Boston was ready for it. I had my last treatment on the day of
the anticipated blizzard. Some were forecasting over two feet of
snow. We woke up on Tuesday morning, almost before the storm.
We were able drive to the hospital without any problem. It so happened
that Boston got only 6-7 inches of snow followed by slush sleet and then
it rained in the evening. We drove home the day after Stella was no
longer active in Massachusetts. The Mass Pike was all clean and clear,
and the sky was sunny and brilliant. Tractor trailers were banned
from the Mass Pike, and the Lord gave us a safe and pleasant trip. We got
home to Marathon in good time. Broome County along with
Marathon (our town) had become the epicenter of the storm Broome
County was almost paralyzed. The National Guard was called in to
help Broome County in the cleanup. When we came home our driveway had
been ploughed "deep and wide". Praise the Lord for the
blessings and simple gifts He bestows upon us so lavishly day in and day
out, in season and out of season.
While
in Boston we were able to spend some beautiful and sweet time with our
grandchildren, who are growing up very fast. The day before the
storm, it was a beautiful and sunny day in Boston, and I wanted to explore some
of Boston and go out for dinner. I picked a sea food restaurant
called the "Holly Crab". We followed the GPS, which led us
through some of the Historic Boston Neighborhoods. We drove by a gorgeous
and majestic Synagogue. Finally we came our destination. We found a
lovely parking place a few doors away, which was free after 6:00 PM (and it was
almost 6:00 already. I was looking for a massive building where the
restaurant was. I was disappointed at first to find out that it was
a one room building on Commonwealth Avenue - the same street where the
Historic Boston University (that was founded by the Methodist church) is
located. As Alice and I entered the restaurant we were welcomed by a
cheerfully smiling waitress. I noticed there were few other customers sitting
scattered around the room. The waitress brought us the menu, from which I
chose Crawfish prepared Cajun style. Alice ordered a standard
American dish. The waitress brought us no tableware. To my amazement
she brought plastic gloves and a bib. When dinner was ready she brought
my crawfish with its exotic aroma. She brought my dinner in a
plastic bag. Again there were no utensils. It turned out that the
food was awesome and it was plenty. As we were eating other customers
came in. Some were ordering some not-so-hot stuff, but as they started
eating they were full of tears. Our waitress was kind, winsome, and
gracious. I asked whether she went to church and without hesitation she
said "yes", indeed she went to church. " I am a
Christian" she said. She further said that her dad is pastor back in
Korea. She told us about her name and shared that She is a student the
prestigious Berkeley Conservatory where she specializes in
Piano. I praised the Lord for her and prayed for her. It was a
sweet powerful encounter. Jesus was with us.
My
doctor , who is charge of my care had gone to Hong Kong to speak at a
medical conference. She had just returned from Hong Kong on the last day
of my treatment. She was able to fly in just hours before the storm.
After the last treatment we had some time with her about progress and
prognosis. After her consultation , she asked if she could pray with us.
I said, "Certainly." She prayed for me
and asked the Lord give her wisdom to care for me, and we all joined in prayer.
William
Frey, a retired Episcopal bishop from Colorado, tells the following story:
“When I was a younger man, I volunteered to read to a degree student named John
who was blind. One day I asked him, ‘How did you lose your sight?’
‘A chemical explosion,’ John said, ‘at the age of thirteen.’ ‘How
did that make you feel?’, I asked. ‘Life was over. I felt helpless.
I hated God,’ John responded. ‘For the first six months I did
nothing to improve my lot in life. I would eat all my meals alone in my
room. One day my father entered my room and said, “John, winter’s coming
and the storm windows need to be up — that’s your job. I want those hung
by the time I get back this evening or else!” Then he turned, walked out
of the room and slammed the door. I got so angry. I thought Who
does he think I am? I’m blind! I was so angry I decided to do it.
I felt my way to the garage, found the windows, located the necessary
tools, found the ladder, all the while muttering under my breath, “I’ll show
them. I’ll fall, then they’ll have a blind and paralyzed son!”’
John continued, ‘I got the windows up. I found out later that never
at any moment was my father more than four or five feet away from my
side.’” In the same way, Jesus did not promise to spare us, but he did
promise to be with us. He said, “And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
We
returned home blessed and are getting ready for the coming weeks in our Lenten
journey. We are getting ready for this Sunday's Worship. The Gospel
reading for this Sunday is taken from John 4 - the encounter of Jesus
withe Samaritan Woman. I am preaching on Bad Girls of the Bible: And What We Can
Learn from Them.
We
are having a special Lenten event on Saturday the March 25. We will
gather for a special dinner at 6:00 PM. Dr. James Geer, PH D, Professor
of Mathematics at the Watson School pf Engineering, will present, "Simon Peter"
at 7:00 PM. All are welcome,
Since
"Stella" caused the community dinner (for last evening) to be
canceled, it has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, March 22, from 4:30 until
all are served. A special seasonal meal has been planned.
In Christ,
Brown
