According to the definitive definition of logistics found on Google, "logistics is the act of coordinating complex movements or projects or solving complex problems." There are people who actually do this for a living, but I prefer to leave most of my logistics in the hands of God. Ok, some would call that poor planning, but I like to think of it as the Proverbs 21:1 watercourse that I am traveling down -- just following God's direction. It is kind of like that poor freighter that I saw laboring down the meandering Rhine River on my approach into Dusseldorf one time. From the viewpoint of the captain of the vessel, he might be frustrated because he was going South when his desired direction was North. But from my viewpoint in the airplane - which was more like the overview that God might have - he had no other choice. He had to follow the river! Following that southerly meander of the river was the only way of getting his vessel from the heart of Germany to its destination on English Channel.
Sometimes it is instructive to memorialize some of those logistical pathways just to better understand that God's ways are higher than ours and are so beautiful in their artful meandering. One such pathway began for me with a question asked by a speaker at Spruce Lake Retreat some 20 years ago. He passed out little notecards and told us to answer this question. "What is one thing you want to commit to God to do over the next year?" It didn't take me too long to scribble down on my notecard that I wanted to conduct a block party for my neighborhood. I had always wanted to get together with the neighbors who I've never met and find out about their stories. However, it took me a lot longer to put that simple statement into action. That card lay tucked in my Bible like a burr in my saddle for about 7 years. And then one day, God's watercourse carried me into the backyard of lady who had just moved into the neighborhood. I welcomed her to the community and in the midst of the conversation mentioned that I had long harbored the desire to host a block party. "Let's do it!" came her instantaneous reply.
Her response reminded me of the passage in Acts 3 where Peter and John went up the temple at the time of prayer. They saw a lame man lying there. In verse 3 it says, "Peter looked straight at him, as did John." It seemed in that moment that there was a coupling of minds and purpose for Peter and John. They ended up healing a lame man. My neighbor lady and I had fixed our collective eyes on the same objective. "As did John" is a powerful expression of what happens when two people combine their individual passions together. That commitment between the two of us grew into a committee of committed persons and for the next 5 years, up until my new job took me on such frequent trips to China, we had large gatherings of the surrounding neighbors with wonderful interchange of shared identities and interesting stories.
Another 7 years or so passed and one day I was riding through the neighborhood and saw a for sale sign up on one of the houses. I had done some carpenter work in this particular house, building a wall unit for their mudroom where each of the kids could have their own cubby and coat rack. I swung my cycle into the drive and knocked on the door, wanting to make sure that I had a chance to get a picture of my handiwork before the family moved away. The man of the house answered the door and invited me in. In the midst of the conversation, he mentioned that he was so thankful for the block parties that I had started in the neighborhood. "Those parties changed our families lives," he said. Surprised, I asked him what he meant. It turned out that it was at one of those parties that he met a neighbor girl who they would not have otherwise met. Marissa had become their family babysitter. She had become part of their family in that role and had grown up with their kids. Her mentoring had had enormous impacts on their kid's lives. The whole family felt that they had been enriched by that connection.
As I rode home from that encounter, I passed the Souder home. Marissa's dad was working in the drive. I pulled to a stop and greeted him and shared the joy of that conversation that I had just had with the other neighbor. He called for Marissa to come outside to hear the wonderful accolades for herself. I found out that she had just returned from a mission trip to India where she had seen first-hand miracles from God. She had so many amazing stories to tell. I told her that it didn't seem right that her she was living within a quarter of a mile of my house and I had not even known that all these wonderful things were happening.
"Are you going to churches to share about your experiences?" I asked.
"I shared at my church," she answered. "And I would like to share at other churches if I get a chance."
"Well, let's line you up to share at Covenant," I said.
And so it came to about that Marissa graced the pulpit of our church with her presence and shared very eloquently and passionately about God's work in her life. So impressive was her sharing that it energized the youth in our church to invite her to be their resource person for their youth retreat. And then they went with her to Guatemala on a mission’s trip. Her passion for following God rubbed off on every member of that team. One of those team members was a young Chinese exchange student studying at Christopher Dock. That time of missions served to focus her understanding of what the Christian faith is really about. Later, that same girl was to have a wonderful meeting with Paul Yin and myself and discuss farther the of impact faith on her life. And still later, she was to meet with Paul in Beijing to get introduced to his Chat group at a Coffeehouse before her eventual return to the states to take up her studies at NYU. What a foundation God had built into her life by her acquaintance with that girl who babysat those kids!
Another branch off of that logistical pathway was the sharing done by yet another lovely young woman whose life was literally resurrected by the connection with Marissa. This young girl of 17 suffered depression from having perfectionistic goals in life that she was unable to live up to. It got so bad that she decided that she was no longer worth anything to anyone and elected to drink a cup of antifreeze and hopefully end it all. It almost did. But at 2 am in the morning, her failing body awoke her to consciousness just long enough for her to dial 911 on her phone. They were able, by some additional miracles, to reestablish her failing kidney function and bring her back to life at the hospital. It was Marissa who walked alongside of her through these dark days of near death and recovery. God, through her ministry, helped bring healing and recovery to her body, but more importantly, to her soul.
When she stood before church to testify about the ordeal through which she had just walked, she started by apologizing for her lack of ability in public speaking. Never was self- assessment so incorrect. For the next 30 minutes she held the audience spellbound as she shared the intimate details of her crisis. Her cadence was perfect; her annunciation precise. Even her hand gestures communicated with eloquence. This presentation could have captivated an audience of 10,000! And through it all, her voice remained strong, never cracking under the strain of the depth of her emotions. It was not until her ending prayer that the tears and the emotions of it all broke forth and the outpouring of her prayer to God was understood by Him alone --- as well it should be.
When I thanked her later for her powerful sharing, she was quick to connect the dots back to Marissa. And to make that trail of dots even a bit longer, I am hereby connecting that logistical pathway back to that question asked of us at Spruce Lake so many years ago. "What are you willing to commit to doing for God?" Your decision today may affect the world at some near or far distant point in time. Your action could have eternal consequences.
