What would you ask a pastor in inland China? Well, we had the chance. Three plane flights in. Taxi ride winding around. Obstacles of people. Crunched in seat. Feeling every windy, sharp turn. Smelling fumes rising…..like the breakfast in my stomach…..from that morning. Wondering…Are we ever going to get to that church? The one we felt […]
The red coated stranger. In loafers. And mustache. Puts his palm out. Turns head away from….The Hope-filled One….Passing out tracts. And last time I came here…. There were no tracts. No Jesus. No noticeable believers. So bold in a city. Unmasking. Christianity. Only…. Palm readers. Beggars. Buildings of Scientology, asking you to pay […]
The lingering fumes of my neighbors garbage. Burns alongside the road. Waking me to another morn. Another day. Oh hoping. And praying. And I sit. Knees strong on the dust before me. First thing. Like Abuela taught me. Praying to a God I don’t know. Nervously caressing the dangling emblem. Abuela gave me. Strung around my […]
Ever since I sat still. Quiet. For one full minute. With that twenty-year-old Saint. In middle school. I heard the call…. “Missions.” And I used to think. Know. I would pack my bags and live overseas, in answer to that call. But I didn’t. And missionaries were a common sight. In our old church. Growing up […]
I step out. Again. The deck from our condo. Overlooking the ocean. For glass doors do little to hide my fascination to the wide open. And I am drawn to it…..like a gazelle in the Savannah. A dry and thirsty one….hoping for more than a mirage in the desert. And nothing more. Separating. Water and sky. […]
Ever uncover an idol? No, really? A real life, without a doubt, idol? I have. “Expectations.” See. Like the golden calf. I keep formulating my own personal visions. When the path seems black. And I cannot see. Yes, God may start my journey. As I tread boldly out into open waters. But then, somehow. Somewhere along […]