by Jason and Jessica WildeJesus said, “Eat what is set before you.” The food is prepared with care and love. Missionaries trust God and receive His gifts.” (From FMC Missionary Heart) A couple of months before leaving for the Philippines, Family Missions Company sent us an e-mail with various forms and information about our upcoming trip. One of the pages was titled “Missionary Heart”. On it was a list of rules to be followed by missionaries, and included what I thought were some critical items like “No Grumbling!”, “Smile!” and “Respect their culture”. But the rule that we knew we had to work on a little bit with our kids was “Eat what is set before you”. To be fair, our kids are some of the least picky kids I know. They have visited 5 Asian countries and have lived through some of the more unique local specialties such as durian, stuffed baby squid, and fried bugs. They have even started asking for dragonfruit and gochujang (Korean spicy sauce) when we go to our local Asian supermarket. But, being kids, they still have their moments. So, we practiced this rule at home with diligence. We explained to our kids that when we are the guests, our host goes to great lengths with a generous heart to prepare a banquet just for us, so enjoy your meal and be gracious. It turns out that every meal on our trip was pretty much everything a kid could ask for. Typical Filipino delicacies include fried chicken, rice, eggs, various stewed pork, some fried fish, and lots of fruit. In addition, the sisters at Canossa spoiled us with unlimited Milo (malted hot chocolate) at every meal. These daily feasts made it even more sad for us to see the food, or lack of it, that most of the locals lived on. Many of the local Filipinos just don't eat meat because of the cost, and having milk is a special treat that one family enjoyed only when they celebrated. We watched a mini-documentary on a flight that showed most farm workers living off of one single meal of a scoop of rice, a boiled egg, and a dried sardine, wrapped in a banana leaf to keep fresh, per day! On one of the many drives through the countryside around our mission post in Malaybalay, we passed by a grain elevator on the edge of a rice field. Hung on a wall just outside the elevator entrance was a sign that simply said:
This reminded me of a reference in Laudato Si in which Pope Francis notes that about one third of all food is discarded, “as if it were stolen from the table of the poor” (Catechesis (5 June 2013): Insegnamenti 1/1 (2013), 280.) I couldn’t help but imagine the couple grains of rice, (or in the case of our kids, entire spoonfuls), that spill on my floor at home, or the rice that I’ve left on my plate at a restaurant after gorging on a main dish. One day, our family was asked to join a home visit to a family near the retreat center. We walked down the road about a block, turned onto a smaller road which soon turned into a mud path because of the rainy season which had just started. We walked past some of the most gorgeous green farms with cattle and pigs. A little farther, and we found ourselves in the middle of a village of little bamboo houses. The family we were visiting was a farmer, his wife, and their 6 children. We were invited to sit under a tin roof protecting a few chairs serving as their main living space. We presented a bag of rice, they smiled in thanksgiving, and through some translation, we learned that at one time, he worked on a nearby corn farm, but now is unable to work. Then, he shared with us his favorite Bible verse, Proverbs 3:9. Honor the Lord with your wealth, Imagine the contrast between our family, who had never starved for nutrition a day in our lives, now being fed God's word by an unemployed farmer whose heart was filled with His word telling us to give the best of what we have to Him. We were reminded that Jesus is the bread of life. His word is the nourishment for our souls. Our plan was to provide food for a family in need, but instead we were graced with a spirit that would keep us from going thirsty or hungry again, if we remember this farmer's gift of God's word.
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by Grace WildeWe were walking through the flower markets to a museum in Bangkok, Thailand. The flowers were beautiful. They were colorful and were braided into wreaths, table toppings, and ropes. Everything was quiet as we wove through the streets. Then we turned onto a crowded street full of kids dancing and playing. It was children's day! There was free ice cream, toys, and medicine. There was a band playing and everyone was smiling. We were practically covered with stuff. We each had a bag filled with stuff. Then my Dad checked the time, we needed to get on a plane soon. We started walking to the airport as it started to rain. As we are walking by a bridge I see a mom and her baby huddled on a mat with nothing but the mat, a cup, and each other. I stopped and thought how much I had, and how much they had. I gave my bag to the mom, and Mom and Dad did the same. As we walked away, I looked back to see the little boy smiling at his new toys. We had more toys than we needed and saw God in the Mom and her boy and gave away our riches and made ourselves poor. But, do you have to be poor or rich to love God in others? This question can be explained slowly through the course of time. The Kings of Israel are thought of as powerful and rich. They loved the Lord. This was true, but, they let riches and power substituted their love for the Lord.
King Saul thought that he was powerful and could make the sacrifice just as good as the prophet Samuel. So, Israel lost the battle because of Saul’s desire for power. Saul was very angry and upset for the rest of his kingship. Then, David became King and coveted a soldier’s wife. She said she was married, but David still wanted her. He intentionally used his power to kill her husband and take the lady as he wife. Then, came Solomon. Solomon’s wives led him to worship false idols of gold and priceless metals. He was led away from God and let the riches block him from worshiping God. Can you love God while you are rich if you make yourself poor? Yes, it takes a lot of perseverance to continue to give, but, it is possible. For example, St. Margaret of Scotland was a queen, with many riches and powers. She stayed a queen all her life and the power and riches never overpowered her. How did she do this? She put the needs of others before her own. For example, every day before she ate, she would hand feed some of the orphans with her golden spoon. Whenever she went out into the town she would give away everything on her and come back almost naked. That is how she became a Saint. Not everyone has the time and patience though to love the Lord while being rich. Many people give away everything and make themselves poor so it will be easier to love God. For example, St Ignatius of Loyola was the son of a rich duke and became a knight for the king. When he decided to spend more time loving God, he saw that it is harder to love God with so many possessions in the way of Him. So he sold all of his belongings and made himself poor and ragged so he could love God. When he did that he could appreciate what God had given him as a blessing. Today, nuns, priests, missionaries, and many more people do the same. Do you have to be poor to love God? Yes, it is impossible to love when you are rich. Like the kings of Israel, when they were rich, power and riches blocked God from their view. Like St. Margaret and St. Ignatius of Loyola, the rich must focus and give all they have to God and other people. But woe to you who are rich, But, when you are poor it is easy to love because you can appreciate what God has given you as a blessing from Him. You can find all the little beauties in the world. You share what you have so that others can enjoy it. Then go out and love God and people. Throw aside all of your riches and power and serve God and others.
by Jason WildeI know you've all watched the animated version at least once a year since age four. Yes, the little story that has been repeatedly scrubbed into your mind year after endless year since when you were in Kindergarten, when they forced you to watch shows like Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” instead of letting you go outside whenever the weather turned sore. But, I’m going to take this very story, which you thought you knew from end to end like a cinch, and turn it on it’s head, flip it around, and in so doing, make you rethink your fundamental childhood understanding of the lovable character we all simply know as the Grinch. You see, the Grinch wasn’t a bad guy after all. And I don’t mean that he changed…no, contrary to what our Hallmark made for TV culture would like you to believe, the Grinch didn’t really become nice and non-confrontal. His heart didn’t actually cause him, out of the black, to become a good Who and forget every bad thing that the Whovians ever said about him, and learn to forgive and play nice and give everyone their precious things back. No, what I am trying to say is that from the beginning, Grinch wasn’t a bad guy… In fact, he was the savior of the town of Whoville. Ok, stay with me here, will you try? ;-) Let’s start instead with the Whovians. Here, we have a Christmas-loving society who could think of nothing other than Christmas - the gifts, the feast, the music, the decorations and the glamour of it all coming together into one giant mass of Christmas. I mean, what more could our inner child want than to live in a town that either celebrated or prepared for Christmas year round? But then, that evil Grinch steals it all away from them in a night of rage...but that doesn’t get them down! No, instead, they prove that mean ol’ Grinch wrong by coming out into the street, holding hands, and singing ‘Dabu Doray’ till it “changed” and convinced that old Grinch to bring their stuff back...because, you know...it’s theirs, and they need it for Christmas, right? But what if I said that the Grinch was actually Whoville’s savior? What if, instead of thinking of the Whovians as victims of an evil villain, we take a deeper look into why they acted the way they did when they suddenly realized that their worldly possessions had disappeared? You see, the Town of Whoville had actually forgotten about Christmas...or we could say they didn’t really need Christmas other than as an excuse to buy things, to show off and be the most merry Whovian in town. They lived in an eternal state of more, MORE, MORE! Every store flashed with the latest sales, and every house had to be absolutely brilliant and decked with the latest lights and tinsel and the biggest tree one could fit into his little Whovian door (or, why not install a tree roof, so it can be dropped in?) Now, the Grinch saw this whole fiasco and asked what it all really meant, and all they could tell him was that it was the right thing to do, because what respectful Whovian could not celebrate Christmas? O, and since you don't look like or agree with us, you aren't really welcome here. Of course, they politely asked with tight little smiles, like good little Whovians, for him to come and join them for a little ceremony, to allow him to feel 'welcome’, but Grinch saw right through the scheme as it was only a selfish spectacle to make them feel better about themselves...and to have another reason to hold a town festival. And to give an award for the merriest Who? C’mon, can you really get any more vain? And so, he took it all away. What happened next was a test of Whoville - did they actually remember what Christmas was without all of the distractions? Well, of course they did, right? They remembered that Christmas wasn’t about the presents at all! They could have Christmas without the ribbons and tags, the packages, boxes, or bags! Instead of these meaningless things, Christmas is a spirit of compassion and love that comes from knowing our God and how he asked us to love and take care of one another. But here’s the key to my entire argument: If the town of Whoville woke up that fateful Christmas morning to find their well lit trees, shiny ornaments, stuffed stockings, burning fireplaces, roast beasts, and mountains of presents just as they had imagined in their dreams… Would there be any spontaneous choral song? Would they remember each other for long? Would they think about why they were celebrating during the mess? Would they have all come together to find the spirit of Christmas? Would they have welcomed Grinch into their homes for the feast? Would they have let him cut the roast beast? You see, devoid of all of the shiny distractions and gifts, the Whovians were left with nothing but the spirit of Christmas in their hearts, and that spirit not only filled the Grinch’s heart, causing him to come down from his hilltop, but more importantly, it allowed the Whovians to truly accept and love him. My argument is that if they had woken up to find everything as they expected, then they would have once again been too distracted by the spectacle of it all to really find the spirit that God asks us to kindle in our own hearts - the Spirit which fills us with love and kindness and charity for all humanity - the Spirit which asks us to love one another, to do selfless works, and to expect nothing in return for us. So I ask you all: Should you play the part of Grinch this Christmas? by Jason, Grace, Brecklyn, and AlexIn this year of mercy, we have been searching for ways to serve God’s people through personal involvement. It’s not that we couldn’t go bring a few boxes of Huggies or Cheerios to the Life Center at our church, it’s that we felt like there was something more we could do...something that would help us feel more in tune with those in need of mercy...to pop our bubble of contentedness and let us change ourselves. We had been giving out “Mother Teresa bags” to people on the street corners for over a year now. But, it was time to go a step farther. And so, when a coworker asked for donations for hygiene kits for the homeless, I asked how we could help in person. I decided to take Grace, Brecklyn, and Alex with me, with the intent that they would help out with the kits, and hopefully be able to help distribute them in one of the homeless communities in Austin. As this was a pretty daunting undertaking for a Dad and his 3 babies, I’d like to let everyone hear how the kids felt about the entire experience. Leaving home I’ll have to admit - I was a little nervous taking the kids to downtown Austin and throwing them right into the community service fire. In fact, as I stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up some soap for the kits, my mind was already thinking of ways out. It took a bit of courage to set those thoughts aside and type the address into my GPS. Preparing the bags (Grace): We prepared the bags. First, we unwrapped the the multi-packages of soap and shampoo/conditioner and lotion. Then I waited for a while until everybody came in. And then I started filling a few bags by going around the table in circles, picking things up and putting them in the bag. They also had little cards in the bags that told about the importance of water. Then, they said we had to do an assembly line. I started by putting toothpaste in the bags, but then I noticed another person doing the same job, and I saw that Brecklyn and Alex needed help bringing the finished bags to the pile. And so, I did that. There were about 30 people making bags. They worked hard. Half of them had just come from a party in the hall and they saw that there was a need for help, and so they helped. As we finished up, there was a lull while everyone organized and prayed for growth, strength, and safety. The organizers explained how we needed to stay in groups for safety, and that there would be drug use. My Dad anxiety went crazy at this point. Our kids were the youngest in the group, and something in my mind told me that I just needed to slip out the back and go home. But, I knew this was not God talking...it was my own fear that keeps me from serving God. Stop 1: ARCH ARCH (Austin Resource Center for the Homeless) is a large facility in downtown Austin that serves as a first services and shelter center for Austin’s homeless. We basically set up shop on the front steps. (Brecklyn): We gave water to the homeless. And we packaged soap and things that you wash with. We gave the things that we packaged up to the homeless too. It was hot. Very hot. One person had a big brown dog. Whenever someone came toward it, the dog stood up. At the first place there were more people. The homeless people were all sitting there. Their clothes were worn out. We gave them crackers. Most of the time they were talking to other people helping with us. When we gave water, they said “Thank you” and they were happy. (Grace): After (we) filled the bags, everyone got out of their church clothes and we started giving the homeless the supplies. It made me feel happy that we were doing something, but it also made me sad that they were in such conditions. There was trash everywhere, especially under the bridge. And it was very hot. When we handed the bags to the people, they would say “Thank you”, or “Beautiful”.- Grace (Alex): My favorite part was the music that we all sang together. Some of the homeless people sang with us. I heard Amazing Grace and If You’re Happy and You Know It. One verse in If You’re Happy was to say Amen. We sang half of the time, and in the spots between songs, we gave water bottles and bags. And I was sad about all of the people. As the crowd subsided, we were to move to another location down the road - under an overpass bridge, and away from the heavily protected shelter. Once again, my mind was racing - something was telling me that we have seen enough for the kids, and that this was a perfect opportunity to excuse ourselves. But, as we prayed, I was again told by God to stay the course. My prayer was being answered. Stop 2: Bridge (Brecklyn): At the second place, we were underneath a bridge. I couldn’t get to most of the homeless people because most of them were near the bridge’s poles and we were in the parking lot under the bridge. I am happy that I helped the people that I could. It wasn’t scary. (Alex): There were two spots where we went. We went to the homeless shelter, then we went under a bridge. And I noticed that there was this same sign that I saw that said “Tickets may hurt, but crashes kill”. This is the same sign that I see all the time when I go on the bridge to get to the doctor’s office. But I never noticed that there were actually poor people living under that bridge. I never noticed that there were actually poor people living under that bridge. As we drove home, I had a hard time speaking to the kids about their experiences. My heart ached for the lives that we had just touched. That there could be such despair and pain just one block over from the famed 6th street, and that we literally drive over these lives every time we pass through - I think Alex pretty much hit the nail on the head. I now realize that it was Satan trying to convince me to leave at just the right opportunities, that I had nearly let fear prevent our kids from seeing and touching these precious lives, just like he did to Jesus in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11). By Jessica and Jason WildeThe beautiful part of year round homeschooling is that on any given day, I have the flexibility and time in my schedule to scrap an entire day’s lesson plans and follow the Lord’s plans instead. Today, we were inspired by the canonization of Mother Teresa, a Mother Teresa box that we recently won at a Knights of Columbus Gala, and recent volunteer opportunities serving the poor. We spent the day studying Mother Teresa’s life and reflecting on our role in helping our neighbors. We are thus called to translate into concrete acts that which we invoke in prayer and profess in faith. There is no alternative to charity: those who put themselves at the service of others, even when they don’t know it, are those who love God (cf. 1 Jn 3:16-18; Jas 2:14-18) (Pope Francis's Homily at Mother Teresa’s Canonization Mass) One of my favorite quotes from Pope Francis is “We pray for the poor. Then we feed them. This is how prayer works.” Charitable acts are the foundation upon which God’s love builds, and it is only through these acts that we may fulfill the commandment to love thy neighbor. The physical connection that we have with another person when we help them is God’s love pouring out, and without us as a conduit for that love, the world becomes a very dark place. Mother Teresa spent her life trying to serve the most vulnerable poor in India, but she did so not to help the poor become rich, but to help God’s light shine on them and to keep them from being lonely. She is frequently quoted in saying that “The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved” The Catholic Church is not at a loss of words for helping the poor. To begin with, in order to fulfill the beatitude “Blessed are the Merciful”, we must perform corporal works of mercy, over half of which are directly helping the poor. And, being corporal (meaning ‘of the body’) works, we are told not to merely pray for the poor, but to physically help them! “If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?” (CCC 2447). Finally, CCC 2446 quotes St. John Chrysostom - “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.” So, by passing by that beggar or homeless person on the corner of the street, we are actually committing a sin against life. Helping those in need is not just something you do to be nice and compassionate - it is a duty and obligation of us as Christians. And it is with this mindset that we always keep Mother Teresa bags in our car in order to serve those whom we meet on the roads of life.
Next stop, reaching out, meeting the poor, and sharing our riches with the poor.
by Jason and Jessica WildeWe had only been in Beijing for a few hours. Our kids were jet lagged and ready for bed. We stepped off the crowded subway, walked through a lush green park filled with cherry blossoms and into the hutong - a traditional Chinese neighborhood that has, over the past 50 or so years, degraded into poor living conditions for many lower class workers in China’s biggest cities. Weaving through the tight labyrinth of streets that are only wide enough for one car and yet convey a constant stream of various types of motorized traffic zipping by our left shoulders, we were amazed at the multitude of odd jobs that residents of these hutongs would do for what was apparently a poverty income level. As the day was ending, we became scared. Here we were with our 3 babies (7, 5, and 3 years old at the time), and it was getting dark and cold. This bed & breakfast was elusive for these tired non-Chinese speakers, and we only had a poorly marked map showing about 1 of every 3 alleys in this hutong. The sun set and we started to panic. Were we safe? Did this place exist, or were we swindled? How long before our kids fall apart into one giant tantrum? And then, we noticed a small flashing neon sign at the far end of the street - one that stood out from the otherwise greyness around us, and more importantly, had English words on it matching the name on our map. Over the next 5 days, we slept, ate and shopped in the hutongs. Our personal space was invaded. People would reach out to touch our kids’ hair and grab them for a picture. If we were in a hurry, we had to tuck the kids’ hair into their jacket to avoid being noticed. In one renovated and particularly trendy alley, we found a counter serving fish pizza in the shape of an ice cream cone. As Jason was taking care of our order, a large crowd of people formed a circle around the kids, taking pictures of them eating their fish pizza cones. We were both physically separated from them, and my heart started to pound. But this was all part of our journey, and it created the exciting stories our kids still share. It was here that we found a vibrance that still sticks in our memories as a characteristic of Beijing. Sadly, few hutongs still exist as housing in Beijing, since most of the them were torn down and the poor pushed out of the city in the name of commercialization. Because of this, hutong tourism is ‘a thing’ for tourists. I’ll never forget seeing them, on their one hour pedicab hutong tour. The tourists were being carted around, wide-eyed, sipping on juju juice and taking pictures. It was as if they were on a safari and the poor were the antelope. Why are guided tours and ‘all-inclusive’ vacationing so popular? I’m sure there are many reasons, dating back to when the first guided ‘expeditions’ into wild territory were advertised to the elite and adventurous. Convenience definitely is a factor, and many are willing to outsource planning to save them time. But, even at a more basic level, why does there even need to be a plan? Why can’t we just go out like a freelance adventurer, without a plan or a care in the world? Fear We’re afraid that without a plan, something will ‘go wrong’. And by ‘go wrong’, I mean, it will make you uncomfortable in some way. We’re afraid that we might get lost, might not see the most picturesque street, can’t order a pad thai from the street vendor, or see something that makes us uncomfortable. We are so afraid of our own instincts that we will even outsource planning to a ‘guided’ or ‘all-inclusive’ service - one which assumes all risk, or at least makes us feel like there isn’t any. Fear can be a good thing - it is an innate sense that alerts us when something isn’t right. But the time in which we must be fearful of everything new and different is a relic of a time when, in order to survive, we lived in small tribes and villages. In this way, fear also prevents us from experiencing anything new and different - and this severely limits our ability to live a Christian life, one in which Jesus calls us to be the good Samaritan and love all of humanity - even those who are new and different. Going on ‘resort’ vacations is like dropping a $100 bill in the collection basket and doing nothing else - it gives you the high of feeling like you are doing your part, helping a good cause, and making you feel good. It is the safe thing to do. But, it also deliberately isolates you from the real world, a world in which there are no orderly lines, or well paid attendants, or high fences to protect you from the outside - and protect you from seeing the outside, lest you feel uncomfortable. It allows you to disconnect yourself from that which you are trying to help - real people, and real problems. In fact, many destinations intentionally isolate you from the real world, surrounding you with their synthetic, sanitized version that gives you a feeling of euphoria (and helps loosen your grip on the wallet a little). Fear is not a Christian attitude (Pope Francis) In order to overcome evil, we must put ourselves at risk. We must be able to remove fear from the equation not by avoiding it, but by confronting it. If we want to help the poor, we must meet the poor. You can’t serve God in Disney World. Now, you may say "If I help make lunches for the homeless or give to the Food Bank or Goodwill, then aren’t I helping the poor?" Absolutely yes. There always needs to be financial contributors, just as there needs to be resorts for people to disconnect - but these should be an integral part of a well rounded view of the world, one in which you can also be so comfortable with those whom you are helping that you feel connected with them, and only in this state will you truly love and care for your neighbor. It’s not that “It’s a small world” is a bad idea, but it is the absence of reality which makes one think that the only thing we need to solve world hunger, poverty, violence, and inequalities is to smile and sing a annoyingly catchy song (and wave at the tourists floating by). So, the next time you decide to take some time off, or even have a free weekend, I challenge you to do something that makes you afraid. Instead of calling a taxi at the airport or driving to the park downtown, take a bus or subway. Roll down your window and hand a bottle of water to the man on the street corner. Buy some extra snacks to give to the homeless woman on the way to your hotel. Do your own research and try to cut out a guided tour or two. Let faith guide you to others' lives on your travels. We must open our doors, our fingerprint encoded security gates, and our high walls and allow ourselves to be uncomfortable in order to see the neighbors who really need our help. |
On a MissionTwo passionate parents and their four children are excited to bring His Word to everyone in need while living a life of Gospel poverty as missionaries. They invite you to join them on a journey to encounter our global neighbors that Jesus commands us to love through works of charity and service. Archives
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