Lent, Day 9: Saint Patrick!

Happy Saint Patrick's day, everyone!

Saint Patrick, if you don't know, was a real man, a Christian missionary who planted by some estimates in excess of seven hundred churches in the early fifth century. He grew up in Britain, but was captured by raiders as a teenager and taken as a slave to what is now Ireland, where he tended his master's flocks for six years, until the Lord directed him to a ship that took him back to his homeland. Years later, after being trained as a priest and missionary and participating in the triumph of orthodoxy over the Pelagian heresy, he felt compelled to return to the pagan Irish with the Gospel.

Of course, many legends later developed about Patrick, who probably did not use a shamrock to explain the Trinity, and who certainly did not drive out all the snakes from Ireland! March 17 is the traditionally-accepted date of his death and thus his Feast Day.

Raise a glass today to this brother, an old-school church planter, and pray that God will raise up many more Patricks to take the Gospel to places where it has yet to take hold.

Dr. David Sills is the Funniest Professor in the History of Professors

Seriously, if Dr. Sills weren't such an amazing missiology prof and Communicator of the Vision for Missions, I would strongly suggest that he take his show on the road. There's a facebook group dedicated to "Dr. Sills-isms," which I just discovered and which reminded me of how funny he is -- a fast talker with a deep-South accent who sometimes forgets how to speak English and starts lecturing in Spanish before he catches himself and says, "Como se dice..."

A sampling of the quotes:

"You're a missionary--go mish."

"Smoke 'em if you got 'em."

". . .the coolest thing since night baseball"

"Does God speak to us through email? Rarely."

"I'm so low on the food chain that I have to watch out for Nemo."

"As they say in Mississippi, that's a lot of sugar for a nickel."

"Journeything..."

"You just need to rock on."

"A little more to the right and you're a fundy fundy fundamentalist."

"There's more than one way to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

"That's the long way around the barn to say..."

"The reason that smells like smoke is because of where it comes from..."

"Billy the Graham"

"16 million Baptists and you can't find half with a search warrant."

"Where they spit the grass never grows again"

"They will steal your socks without even taking your shoes off…that’s just the way they are."

"It’s like communism, it only works on paper."

"Mouth-breathing redneck from Cutoff, Louisiana."

"That's the Reader's Digest Condensed version."

"I have an overdeveloped sense of mercy. I was even pulling for O.J."

Mission Update!

Check out this update from some of our missionaries! Be in prayer for the needs they mention, as well as for God to open doors to them, for the Holy Spirit to soften hearts for the Gospel, and for God to receive glory through Jesus Christ in everything they do. If it helps you, print this out and post it on your mirror or somewhere else you'll be sure to see it as a reminder to pray.

Janine and John Gravley, Hong Kong

American Baptists relate to a number of different partners in Hong Kong. One of our partners is Haven of Hope Christian Service. This group began as a medical clinic serving TB patients in Hong Kong. In the 1950's we began offering some financial support for this work. Over the years we have provided funds for the development of this clinic. Haven of Hope now includes a hospital, medical and social services for elderly, disabled and special needs members of our community. Recently Haven of Hope decided to open a Nursing Home to care for the increasing number of elderly in Hong Kong. It was decided that this nursing home would develop a full range of caring services consistent with Haven of Hope's purpose.

Haven of Hope's Mission - “Through a ministry of holistic care, we strive to share the Gospel and develop a Christian community. In the love of Christ, we deliver our service in a caring, professional and progressive spirit so that the lives of those serving and being served are mutually enriched.”

The Sister Annie Shau Nursing Home opened on 9 May 2005. The very next day God provided an opportunity for the staff to fully realize their hope for this service. This is their report:

“A healthy elderly lady, was supposed to join her daughter, a Christian translator, to stay in China. However, due to a hand fracture, she was hospitalized and was directly discharged to the Nursing Home on May 10th. Our nursing home was chosen by the daughter because of Haven of Hope's Christian traditions. The daughter requested daily “Quiet Time” for her mother. Every day staff read the Bible and sang hymns with her and very soon this attracted other residents to join the activity. From then, quite quickly, a daily fellowship group of residents was formed. This lady is now recovered and in China with her daughter. It seems that the Christian work of our nursing home has been started by the help of an elderly lady with a fractured hand in the period of 8 weeks while she stayed with us.”

God began working even before Haven of Hope had anticipated but they were ready to see God's activity in their midst. What a wonderful example of being ready and open to God's work in our midst!

Please pray for Haven of Hope and the various ways they share God's love in Hong Kong.