Radical Womanhood

Ethiopia: Portraits of Hope

Next week, Lord willing, I take off for an extended trip that includes a visit to Ethiopia. While I'm there, I'll be interviewing Doug Hayes of Covenant Mercies about a new AIDS orphans program that Covenant Mercies has established in conjunction with our church, Covenant Life Church of Addis Ababa. I'm excited to make my first visit to Ethiopia!

Until then, I'm also eager to promote what Covenant Mercies is doing through its Portraits of Hope evening. In celebration of this new Ethiopian program, Covenant Mercies is offering a collection of forty-five limited edition prints featuring the beautiful people of Ethiopia as captured through the lens of award-winning photographer David Sacks. All proceeds from the auction will go directly to support the ministry of Covenant Mercies to needy people around the world. 

Those who live near Philadelphia can enjoy an elegant evening this Friday, April 25th--and the rest of us can participate online.

First, whether or not you are interested in what Covenant Mercies is doing, you can watch an inspiring video of images from Ethiopia set to native music. Sescond, if you'd like to own a print and support the ministry, you can also preview a limited number of the prints and place pre-auction bids.

Finally, I know that Doug would appreciate your prayers for the orphaned children in Addis, as well as the outreach of the church there.

Ian's Benefit

More blogging friends to connect with while I'm away from the blog this week: Long-time readers of this blog may be familiar with the story of Ian Murphy, his traumatic brain injury, and the faithful ministry of his girlfriend, Larissa Whiteley. If you are a new visitor, I would highly recommend you check out this touching Valentine Day's tribute from Larissa that I posted last year. Here's an excerpt:

Around August of this past year when we returned from our summer internships, Ian began having serious conversations with his dad about the logistics of pursuing marriage. He had known for awhile that I was “the one,” and now it was down to the timing. We both were working two jobs to save money, and Ian was working especially hard, as I found out later, so that he could buy me a ring. Our biggest struggle in thinking about marriage was trying to figure out the when it could all happen. In my mind, the first of the year made the most sense since we would both graduate college in December.

September 30 changed all of our plans.

That morning while Ian was on his way to work, he collided head-on with an SUV. He was life-flighted to a Pittsburgh hospital where he immediately went into surgery. For several hours, we didn’t know how severe the accident was or why he was in surgery. But we soon received what seemed to be the worst possible news. Ian had suffered severe head injury. The following 48 hours would determine whether he would live or not.

My life as I knew it was gone.

Since that blog post, I've heard from many of you that you are praying for Ian and following the updates on his blog. If you haven't been to Ian's blog recently, you might be astounded at the progress the Lord is giving a young man who was once on death's door. At left is a current picture of Ian and Larissa. And, praise the Lord, he's been walking a little bit in physical therapy!

Ian has not yet recovered sufficiently to speak, but I am in faith for the healing work of the Holy Spirit. Last week I was being silly about Leap Year, but on that same day, Ian's friends held a benefit concert for him. Their goal was to raise funds for a portable ramp for Ian's wheelchair so that he can access more places, as well as other physical therapy equipment. (If you are interested in donating, details are here.) That support is commendable! But please also pray for Ian so that he can fully recover from his coma and voice the proposal he was preparing to say to Larissa.

Net Benefits

As many problems as there can be with the Internet, one aspect I truly appreciate is how the web has opened the door to no-cost learning. Lectures from MIT, Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) and other renowned institutions are available for free on iTunes U. Sermons from large and small churches alike can be downloaded at no cost from their websites. And even some books are available for free download.

What I'm gleaning from right now is a lecture titled "Introduction to Islam" from the World Religions course by Dr. Timothy Tennent on Biblicaltraining.org. Biblical Training "offers the finest in Christian evangelical teaching to the world, for free, forever." Dr. Tennent is Professor of World Missions and Director of Missions Programs at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

My traffic-clogged commute has faded to the background as I've learned interesting nuggets during this lecture, such as the fact that Muhammed married his first wife, Khadija, when he was 25 and she was 40. She was a wealthy widow who owned many caravans and he was her manager. And why there are different sects in Islam and that signifies. And what historical analogy Muslims would have understood when Saddam Hussein declared "the mother of all wars." Or even which nation has the largest Muslim population in the world. (What's your guess? The answer is Indonesia.)

Now I'm downloading the Church History course from RTS on iTunes U. There are 32 lectures in this course. Suddenly, a month's commute is looking a lot more interesting!

Spreading the Gospel Through Technology

I've been reading The Washington Post nearly my entire life, but it still has the capacity to surprise me. This time, I was pleasantly surprised. On today's front page was a lengthy profile of how various Christian groups are using technology to reach pre-literate people groups around the world. Neither snarky nor suspicious, this straightforward account highlighted the innovative methods Christians are using to get the Word out. When I finished reading it, I broke out into spontaneous thanksgiving and worship, thanking the Lord for the myriad ways He uses His people to glorify Himself. I also took note of the author's name (Mary Jordan, of The Washington Post Foreign Service), and prayed that God would bless her in her work.

"Plugging the Planet Into the Word" begins this way:

RONG DOMRIEX, Cambodia -- Tel Im, a barefoot 13-year-old, sat cross-legged on a bamboo bench, eager for her reading lesson.

"Please turn to Lesson 33," said a woman's voice rising from a Sony cassette player powered by two wires clipped to a car battery. The tape was the closest thing to a school in this village shaded by banana trees, where water buffaloes meander in from the lime-green rice paddies.

Im and her classmates flipped to Page 134 for a passage from the New Testament.

"The title of this story is: 'Jesus Was Crucified,' " said the teacher on the tape, slowly pronouncing the words in Khmer, the local language, as the children followed along with their fingertips.

Six months ago, Im couldn't read a word and had never heard of Jesus. Now, thanks to a literacy program run by the local chapter of an international Bible group, she has a book -- the Bible -- that she can read, and she says she wants to become a Christian.

Using technological devices ranging from simple cassette tapes to solar-powered audio players and an iPod-like gadget called the Bible Stick, Christian groups are spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year to make one of the world's oldest books accessible in remote corners of the planet.

Complete versions of the Bible can now be downloaded onto cellphones in parts of Africa. To reach those who can't read -- nearly one-fifth of the world's population, according to the United Nations -- Christian groups are rapidly increasing production of audio and video versions.

Christian networks from the United States, Europe, Asia and elsewhere are working together, coordinating the efforts of people as diverse as a computer cartographer in Virginia and linguists in the jungles of Papua New Guinea.

Since 2000, the Bible -- or parts of it -- has been translated into 600 more languages, making it more accessible to tens of millions more people, according to the Forum of Bible Agencies International. An additional 1,600 translation projects are underway that will leave only about 3 to 5 percent of the world's population without the best-selling book of all time available in their native language.

Building on generations of work to distribute the printed Bible, Christian missionaries said new multimedia presentations in hundreds of languages are vastly expanding the Bible's audience and spreading the influence of the world's largest religion.

"It's a movement to revitalize religion in the world, and it's huge," said Laurie Westlake of Faith Comes By Hearing, a U.S.-based nonprofit group that works in 92 countries.

I was stunned to read that such quick progress had been made on Bible translations in only seven years! There are many more encouraging facts in the rest of the piece, so I highly encourage you to continue reading how Christians groups are using technology to expand the Bible's audience.

Photo caption: Children in Rong Domriex, Cambodia, learn to read by following along in their books as they listen to a NewTestament passage read on tape. (By Mary Jordan -- The Washington Post)

A Life Lived Well: Madonna Aristorenas

This is how I will always remember my friend, Madonna. She was so happy to show off her ring after her engagement this June. Suspecting that her boyfriend might propose on a trip to New York, I had sent my digital camera with her to capture this special moment. Gene Mercado proposed to her 17 months to the day after they began courting. They were planning for a January 12th wedding and I was going to be a bridesmaid.

But last Friday, Madonna passed away. She had battled breast cancer for six years. Actually, she had more than just battled cancer--she thrived in the midst of it. At her family funeral yesterday, her pastor said that during this time Madonna had been involved in every major outreach ministry of our church. A woman with a vibrant faith and a megawatt smile, she had an incredible passion for evangelism. In addition to all that she did in small group leadership and with our various international and evangelism outreach ministries, Madonna was also my assistant for the last several years of the single women's discipleship group. I don't know how she did it all, but I think one reason was that she resolutely kept her focus outward.

Madonna was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, shortly after her 33rd birthday. As a single woman, she was tempted to think this would diminish her marriage prospects. But as we all know, our evaluation and understanding is supremely inferior to God's.

Earlier this year, I asked her to share her testimony as the opening illustration for a message I gave titled, "The Walk of Faith." I was pleased then that she was willing to do so--especially as she had only been out of the hospital for a few weeks after serious surgery. Now I'm deeply grateful for it.

Reflecting on her initial diagnosis, Madonna said: "At the time, I was so ashamed of the diagnosis because I knew this would change many things about me. I made a choice to limit who knew about my health. My motives were mixed. I didn't want to be bombarded with questions. And also I was ashamed because I knew I was going to lose all of my hair. Although I had reconstruction, I knew my body was going to look different."

After chemotherapy and radiation treatment, Madonna's cancer seemed to be headed toward remission. Then in March, 2005, she found a lump in her other breast, which led to the discovery of metastasized cancer in some of her bones.

"I had hoped that if my cancer were to return, it would be after I was married," she said. "I dreaded the idea of making these decisions alone and to walk through this alone. Also I was ashamed of how my body was going to look afterwards because of the scars. But God taught me once again that He was everything and He gave me the humility to openly share my current health situation. He showed me His care for me and that He would never leave me nor forsake me."

The following January, Gene asked her into a courtship. Though they had been friends for several years, she was surprised by his interest. In fact, many of us were. (Gene, this is just one of the many reasons you are a man worthy of honor!) Just as it seemed that Madonna might beat this recurrence of cancer, her tumor markers went up in November. Two months later, after spending a chunk of time in the hospital, she stood before a group of single women and concluded her testimony with these haunting words:

"My battle with cancer continues. But God continues to astound me with His care. I cannot believe how faithful He has been to me. It is far too vast a list to enumerate all He has done. I often view my circumstances and wonder what this walk would look like without the Lord. Although my circumstances appear bleak and beyond understanding, I am assured of this: I know that my worst problem has been taken care of on the cross. I'm assured that even if the treatment doesn't work, I will be with my Lord and Savior in heaven one day, rejoicing at all He has done."

One of Madonna's final outings was to attend a friend's wedding seven hours away by car. She was weak and in pain, but determined to rejoice with those who rejoice. Her outward focus remained until the end.

Madonna was one of my best friends and I miss her already. I miss joking with her about dating a younger man. I miss our girlie outings for tea, pedicures, and classical concerts. I miss her candid counsel and can-do attitude. I miss worshiping with her in church. I miss bringing her Frosty shakes when she was in the hospital and uninterested in hospital food. I miss her evangelistic enthusiasm--I could always count on her to reach out to new people. I miss singing to '80s music with her. And I miss the way she took to ending our phone conversations over the past month or so: "Love you, Cee Cee."

It was the last thing she ever said to me. I look forward to hearing her say it once again when we are reunited in heaven. Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ, who took away the penalty for our sins--death--to offer us life everlasting.

(Photos, from top: Madonna showing off her engagement ring; Gene and Madonna in Central Park shortly before he proposed; in January, 2006, after they began courting; the last time I saw Madonna, at a mutual friend's wedding.)

A memorial service will take place next Wednesday, September 12th, at Covenant Life Church, where Madonna had been a faithful member for many years.

Fill Up Your iPod--for Free!

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me where he could find C.J. Mahaney's classic message, "The Main Thing." He wanted to recommend the sermon to another friend and send him the link for a free download. That message was one of many that eventually became part of C.J.'s book, Living the Cross-Centered Life. But at that time, the message wasn't available for a free download.

It is now.

All of the MP3 messages on the Sovereign Grace Store have just been made free to download. You can sort by topic, by event, or by speaker.

Want to check out C.J.'s messages? You just have to sort by his name. You can also find messages by other Sovereign Grace pastors such as Bob Kauflin, Josh Harris, Jeff Purswell, and Dave Harvey. Or you can find messages by guest speakers such as Al Mohler, Wayne Grudem, Mark Dever, Randy Alcorn, John Piper, David Powlison, Ken Sande, R.C. Sproul, Bruce Ware, and more.

You can also find messages from the GirlTalkers: Carolyn Mahaney, Nicole Whitacre, Kristin Chesemore, and Janelle Bradshaw.

How about specific topics? If you need messages on bible doctrine--the essential teachings of the Christian faith--you can find them on the store. You can also find messages on a wide range of topics, such as biblical counseling, modesty, finances, marriage, parenting, and much more.

Have fun shopping!

Testimonies of Faith

If you've been reading my blog throughout this year, you've read about my trips to New Orleans (in January (here and here) and June (here and here), as well as to the UK in June (here, here, and here), to produce Sovereign Grace Ministries' annual mission video. Some of you may have seen this video last month in a Sovereign Grace church. But the rest of you, if you are interested, can now watch this 40-minute video online. I don't recommend it because of my efforts. I recommend it because it contains numerous testimonies of faith that will most assuredly inspire gratitude toward God.

'I Have Fought the Good Fight'

This weekend I went to see the debut of Acts, a new musical from the 10:31 youth ministry of Covenant Life Church. I go every year to see their production because I'm always blown away by how well done these shows are. We have some exceptionally talented adults in our church who, by God's grace, cultivate tremendous performances from these students (a shout out to director Cathy Mays and her incredibly gifted family of writers and composers). These aren't your typical church plays!

The show was about the earliest days of the church as recorded in the book of Acts. It concluded with the apostle Paul as he faces his death as a prisoner in Rome. If memory serves correctly, the final scene was Paul being led away by the guard to his execution. The staging called for the actor to leave the stage, walk down the steps, and up the main aisle. The rest of the room was dark, the stage was dimly lit, and he was walking alone in the spotlight. As he passed through a gate and then into the darkness, he spoke these final words from 2 Timothy 4:6-8:

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

It was a powerful conclusion--one that left the, shall we say, more mature members of the audience pulling off our glasses and wiping away sudden tears. What a dramatic portrayal of the call to live wisely!

The next day, I read Mark Dever's commentary on this passage from Promises Kept: The Message of the New Testament. He writes:

Two more of Paul's letters follow 2 Timothy in the canonical order of the New Testament. But chronologically, based on everything we know, 2 Timothy was the last letter from Paul's pen. I wonder if Paul was surprised by how things ended. Consider Paul as a young man in rabbinical school, doing well. Or consider Paul in that incredible moment on the road to Damascus, when a flash of light knocked him off his horse and he was told he would be the apostle to the Gentiles. I wonder if, in his earlier years of ministry, he ever envisioned the emperor of Rome becoming a Christian as the crowning glory and culmination of his faithful ministry. Or did he imagine himself as an old man in a jail alone?

...Is Paul where you think he should be at the end? Sitting there, alone in a prison? Would you consider him successful? At this point, Paul had been laboring for about thirty years as an itinerant evangelist. In these last words from his pen he professes to have taught, lived, purposed, believed, had patience, loved, endured, been persecuted, suffered, been rescued, fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. And now? Now he is being poured out and is ready to depart. He is certain the Lord will bring him safely to heaven.

According to tradition, a few months, weeks, or even days after writing this letter, the emperor Nero gave his verdict on Paul. Paul was taken to one of the main roads leading into Rome, the Ostian Way, and his head was cut off his body. Nero had passed one verdict on Paul, while Christ passed another.

It's been my observation that few people lead the lives they envisioned when they were younger. The disillusionment of aging is the realization that your plans didn't come to pass. A Christian, however, can emulate the apostle Paul in celebrating God's sovereignty in our circumstances and press on with confidence toward the time of our departure, certain of the grace that propels us to finish the race and eager to meet our risen Lord.

Thanks to all involved in the Acts production for giving us this excellent dramatization.

Documenting God's Faithfulness

Greetings from New Orleans! I'm here to do some interviews for the Sovereign Grace Ministries annual mission video. The video crew and I landed yesterday afternoon at a fairly quiet airport. It seemed the only travelers were military personnel or missions teams. I saw a lot of people wearing sweatshirts or T-shirts bearing the names of various Christian outreach and recovery teams. I was encouraged to see both groups, actually. The Lord has instituted civil government for our protection (Romans 13:4), so in effect, all of the above are servants of the Lord.

I've already met a number of God's precious servants here, and I'm eager to interview many more at Lakeview Christian Center. We have a full schedule, so I don't know how regularly I will be posting. In the meantime, you can watch a few of the stories from last year's mission video on the Sovereign Grace website. I've seen those videos more than any other human being, but I still cry tears of gratitude whenever I watch.

I have the best job in the world to get to travel around and document God's grace and faithfulness to His people!

An Example Worth Emulating (By Royal Decree)

My friends often call me (in a loving way, of course) The Princess. I wholeheartedly agree with them. In fact, I've declared myself Empress of Montgomery County. But until this week, that was merely my own delusion of grandeur. Now I've got proof. Though it's not gender-correct, Tim Challies made me King for a Week.  And with my newly bestowed title, I will issue my first Royal Decree. It is thusly: We do hereby declare the following to be an Example Worth Emulating and urge the citizenry of this lovely nation to take heed for how to apply it in their own churches. Here, here!

*********************************************************************************

A pastor's wife in New Jersey, Kim, recently sent me the following letter about how she invested in the single women of her church through a book study combined with personal gifts and specific events. Though she is referring to my book, this can be easily applied to any book. I liked Kim's creativity and how intentional she was for each meeting. I also appreciated how honest she was in telling me that some of the single women originally balked at going through a book with the ominous title of Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye? I laughed when she told me, but I have to admit that if I were younger and unfamiliar with the book, I, too, would probably balk! I've edited her letter slightly for the purposes of this blog, but here is the gist of what she wrote:

"Well, we just finished up your book last night. God certainly used it in our church.  My goal was just to get them reading your book and have a special surprise at each monthly meeting--but God added so much more!  For the November meeting, I felt the Lord give me the idea to surprise the ladies by having three other women come out [to pray for them]. That night I gave out my gifts of the framed Scriptures, which totally melted their hearts, and then we split into our two groups.  We took each lady one by one and spent a good 15-20 minutes praying over her particular requests.  What was especially wonderful was that the other women in these groups prayed, as well. I think the ladies went away really refreshed and encouraged.   

"Each month I had a special surprise:

• September - A CD of Mark Dever's message on Ruth (per your suggestion in the book)
• October - An encouragement note from their caregroup leader (or someone their caregroup leader asked )and an invitation out for tea/lunch/dinner.
• November - A framed Scripture. (I had asked them to give me their favorite Bible verse in our October meeting. Then I typed these verses up in a fancy font and put them in beautiful frames.  They really loved that. I have to say that was my favorite surprise too.)
• December - A set of coasters and some homemade pumpkin bread of mine.  I chose coasters because I wanted to give something practical as well as something would remind them of our special time each time they used it.

"At the last meeting, I read aloud your section about a personal retreat and gave out Carolyn Mahaney's personal retreat guide.  I strongly encouraged them to try and find some time to do a retreat.  Then we split into our two groups and discussed their homework assignment: Come prepared to share which chapter you felt especially convicted about. Where would God want you to read, re-read, apply and ask for accountability in the next year?  That was a good discussion and God certainly focused one or two areas for each woman."

I am grateful that Kim set aside this season to specifically invest in and encourage the single women in her church. If any of them ever wondered if they were valued by the leaders or other members, I trust Kim's efforts dispelled that notion. I liked her mix of gifts, too. Not only did she give out instructional items such as a teaching CD or personal retreat guide, she also gave homemade gifts of pumpkin bread and framed Scripture verses. Then she mixed in encouragement notes, some quality time with another woman and an invitation out, as well as personal prayer. No matter your "love language," Kim had covered all the bases!

This is a wonderful example of how older women can fulfill the Titus 2 mandate to "teach what is good" to younger women. I applaud her efforts and pray that it bears good fruit in the months and years to come.