rescue

I'm sure you've heard by now (seeing as it's been a whole week), but Jacob Allen has been found alive in Dolly Sods! He was tired and hungry of course, but otherwise completely fine. There was an amazing response as far as the rescue effort; hundreds of volunteers (dozens and dozens from Chestnut Ridge Church) went to join the professional rescue teams. It was an extremely emotional and surreal week for everyone involved, including we who were praying (Sarah and I were almost literally walking out the door to drive down when we got the news that he'd been found Thursday, almost exactly 4 days to the minute from when he went missing), and looking back now, it's almost like it didn't happen. I saw Jacob in church Sunday (I led worship, and we changed the whole theme of the service to celebrate his homecoming in a day, which is more serious than you can realize because of the amount of people involved in pulling off a CRC service) and he looked fine. I just heard today that he's been smiling more than normal this week (people with autism usually don't show a lot of emotion), and Pastor Bill is convinced that it's because he's been shown how highly valued he is.

This idea was one that Bill has touched on briefly during his reflections on the whole event: that the value of a human life is immeasurable. That when a life is in danger of being lost, many other lives become involved in the effort to preserve the one life. He cited the parable Jesus told in Luke 15 of the lost sheep, whose owner left his other 99 sheep to search for the one; he talked about how much rejoicing there is in Heaven when one 'lost' person's life changes -- more rejoicing, in fact, then there is for 99 'righteous' people whose lives have already been changed! A life being saved is one of the most wonderful and glorious occurrences in the universe.

Bill also mentioned the way in which Jacob Allen's name is know far and wide now. Jacob used to be 'the other Allen brother;' Bill said that his kids couldn't usually remember his name. But now, when there was a threat to this valuable life, suddenly his name became common knowledge, uttered in prayer by thousands, fixed upon by the region and some of the nation for days. Bill likened this recognition of Jacob's name to how we are all given new names in Jesus: Christians, or 'little Christs' literally. God calls our names out of the darkness, and He speaks to us in our 'inner being' with a name that probably can't be pronounced by the human tongue. God had a habit of actually changing people's names throughout the history of the nation of Israel, and it's obvious that He places much significance on the power of a name (His name for Himself, YHWH or 'I AM WHO I AM' suggests great mystery and power and alludes that His real Name is too beautiful for us to hear).

Many lives have been impacted by the search for and rescue of Jacob Allen, and especially those in his church will not soon forget him or his value. May we all place more value on each human life we encounter, even when they don't seem to be in immediate danger!

elkins, part 1

I've been back to my hometown, Elkins, WV, three times in the last month. A real treat! I hadn't been for a while. On my first jaunt, Billy (my colleague) and Sarah and I got to relax at Billy's camper/cabin and get some good planning done for our ministry. Here's a few photos from this visit.

Only about 45 minutes down the road from this very place is Dolly Sods, a beloved escape for enthusiastic hikers, nature-lovers, and anyone who appreciates God's green earth. Hopefully by now you've heard about the missing Jacob Allen, an autistic 18-year-old whose family goes to my church, and hopefully, if you're a believer, you've been praying. He got seperated from his family around 2:30 on Sunday afternoon and hasn't been seen since, though they did find his hat on Tuesday. Here's the latest I've found on it: http://www.wdtv.com/home/ticker/10585127.html

It's odd when something so terrible and unsettling happens somewhere so beautiful and serene. We all desperately hope that Jacob is found any moment, unharmed, but I'm sure that no matter what happens Dolly Sods will always have an ominous feel for the Allen family.

If you are moved to help in any way, please follow the information given in the link to do what you can.

faith venture

My canvas group (small group) had a FAITH VENTURE last week.

Faith ventures are one of a canvas group's four practices, and it's meant to stretch the faith of the participant in a way that blesses others. My canvas group, EXSATIO, decided to put some 'care packages' together to hand out to a few homeless people or really anyone who could benefit from some little things like trail mix, gum, bottles of water, face wipes, chapstick, a Bible, and a bunch of other things most of us probably take for granted.

So we went to the store together, assembled the packages, and started walking around downtown and by the river, looking for people to bless. For a while, we didn't find anyone. We found a few places where we could see some type of dwelling, and we left packages there, hoping that someone would get them and use them. But as evening faded into night, we became a little disappointed that we hadn't gotten to interact with anyone.

And then a group similar to ours who were out doing something very similar told us a few gentleman up an alley would sing for us if we wanted. I ran up the alley to check it out (though honestly, something made me doubt that they were still there, and I told the rest of my group to wait and I'd be back and we'd keep searching elsewhere). Sure enough there were 3 guys sitting there, drinking a little, and they were very friendly. I started talking to them, and then the rest of my group, one by one, realized that I must have found them and started showing up around me.

We gave them the rest of our little packages and then just sort of sat and talked. None of us necessarily had a plan or anything, but we just wanted to be open and give a little of our time to people who many just walk by without taking much notice. And some really great things started happening. More people showed up, and EXSATIO started branching off in little clusters, talking to different individuals, listening to stories and sharing the hope that we have in us and the Source from which we draw strength to care for others like we were doing that night.

I got to talk mostly to one guy who I won't name just for privacy's sake. He was a very sincere man, and he actually had a great singing voice! He was raised in the church with tons of siblings and so knew lots of old hymns, which I and a few others sang with him. He said he wants to do a music project of songs he's written, and that any proceeds that come from it he wants to give 90% to the church. He seemed to be a believer in Christ but said that he's gotten into some bad things and wants to 'turn a corner.' He said he was an alcoholic, and his wife of only 5 months has taken a restraining order out against him and kicked him out of their apartment. He's now living in a trailer. We prayed for him and also for another individual whom one of our number had been talking with very deeply.

The whole canvas group seemed very affected by the whole experience. I asked them to take some time to digest and reflect upon the experience, maybe writing down some things that really made an impact in their hearts and minds. So here's a few my own thoughts:

At some points I felt that Christ was really using me, that He gave me a power to connect with this man and that the man could feel it as easily as I could; I felt like I was Christ's hands and heart to him in these moments.

I stepped out on a limb and offered to help him with his music project; I'm going to have a meeting with him! Maybe no one's ever taken him seriously before, maybe people have made him promises that they broke.

If I'm truly honest, there's a part of me that doesn't want to follow through; it's like I enjoyed the time I had with him but I don't want to give him any more time. But I do know that I WILL do it; I won't break my promise. I say that I feel like it's part of my job to encourage creativity (particularly relating to music) in others; why wouldn't I do that for this man?

I felt so surrounded and supported by my canvas group, my friends; they made sure I wasn't alone, which would have made it much harder. It's good to step out into uncomfortably deep waters in order to serve and be a blessing to others.

During our prayer for another guy, I felt very emotional and really could see a glimpse of what his life could be like if he let God change him; I really wanted God to water the seed that was being planted.

Anyway, this blog is getting long, but there you go! We're planning to follow up however we can with those we talked to and we're going to do another faith venture later in the semester.