Teaching old dogs new tricks

There is an old adage that says,"you can't teach an old dog new tricks." I probably believed this to be true most of my life, that is until I reached fifty years of age. You see most of my life I considered FIFTY to be "old" and far past the learning curves of life. When I turned fifty i had to, of course, reconsider my belief in this. We have a dog named Phoebe, my wife named her, and when she was a puppy we taught her three tricks, SIT, ROLL OVER and SPEAK. Today she is about 7 1/2 years old and can still do the 3 tricks. About a year ago I decided she should learn to shake hands (paws). For nearly 6 months I tried everything to get her to do this but to no avail. She would simply sit there and look at me like I was some kind of idiot and refused to learn the new trick.

Today I am rapidly approaching 61. Most 20 year olds would consider me acient, older than dirt, fossil like. It's true my body has a few more aches and pains than it did a few years ago but in my mind I feel like I'm 30 and in the prime of my life. But, some things have come hard for me, such as the computer. When computers first became popular I refused to join in the merriment and continued doing things the old fashioned way. What's wrong with 'writing' a letter? Email, you've got to be kidding!! Well after some time, unlike my dog, I began to learn the computer.

Just as I was getting my computer skills sharpened along came the cell phone. Who in the world would actually want to carry a phone with them?? That's nuts!!! Now I not only have a cell phone but it's a world phone that I can talk on anytime anywhere. Who would have ever 'thunk' it?

All of that leads me to this, BLOGGING. This is my second attempt at writing this same blog. The first one went somewhere but nobody can tell me where it went. I hit the 'submit' button thinking I had accomplished yet another trick but only to find it disappeared. So if it doesn't work this time my blogging career may come to an abrupt hault.

So, can you teach an old dog new tricks? Hmmmm................

-Randy Catlett

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Little Lambs Orphanage Ministry

June 2007 saw another team from Metro partner with Little Lambs based in Ukraine. The team of six found themselves in a city orphanage on the eastern side of the country where they would spend the entire month. The unpronounceable town of Dniprodzejinsk was an eight hour bus ride from the capital city of Kiev. They were going to give the kids much more than a summer camp experience. In a country where the number of orphans continues to rise, those involved in this ministry seek to reach as many of them as possible with the love of Jesus. These precious children may have never known the love of another person. Many are starved for affection and visibility. The American team gets to partner with a Ukrainian team along with an interpreter to share their lives and above all that of Jesus. Birthday parties are planned, olympic games are organized and a carnival is set in place. These are events some kids never experience. Jesus is shared in these happy moments, through the telling of Bible stories, eating the same meals as the children, and tucking them into bed with prayers and songs. Jesus is their great hope, and He can bring joy and healing in the midst of rough circumstances.

-Jessica Siems

Check out our Ukraine scrapbook here.

The Gift of Administration

Pam (pictured right at her doctoral graduation), a fellow Metro-ite, writes some of the best stuff on her blog. Today Pam writes about The Gift of Administration. Here is how her post begins:

I like it when people write what I already believe and wish the rest of the world believed as well.

I came across this article in Leadership, written by a pastor who found a lot of success and then found a lot of burn-out. He said lots of interesting things throughout the article and I would recommend it to you, but found this quote hit one of the things I have pondered long and hard over:

“Now I still don’t believe that just by being slick enough with your methodoloy that it obligates the Spirit to act. But while organization doesn’t make a church grow, lack of it can kill an authentic work of the Spirit. And that had been our experience.”

I recommend reading the whole post here.

-Bob Edwards

Running Into the Darkness

The Lord has been so Faithful.

I see him move daily here. It has been so awesome being in the Holy land where Yeshuah walked, Swimming in the very same water he walked on. The Lord allured me into the desert and spoken tenderly to me. He has slain me with thirst.

I have fallen in love with the people everyday. Especially the Arabs, It has been so provoking being here, Ive already learned so much its hard to express in words, Today I went to the biggest Muslim orphanage--its also a mosque, it was very scary going in--but Heidi Baker once said--"Run into the Darkness!!!" who else will? and I prayed for those children, cheek to cheek. I loved them.

The lord has been Moving and shifting something in the spiritual atmosphere and everyone knows it.

Its not just about what denomination you are--charismatic, baptist, etc...who really cares about raising your hands and dancing in worship anymore?

People MUST wake up! and realize that there is something bigger going on, God has something bigger on his mind than we realize. he loves to move when we reach out of our comfort zone and give to the broken, love the unloved-rejected. Speak to the ones are the outcasts--and love the unsaved who are blinded by their own fear and brokenheartedness. This is how Yeshuah loves to move, when we break down the doors of apathy and fear.

That is Christ in me.

Nikkie Riley

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Nikkie Riley has been a part of our Metro Youth for a long time. She graduated last year from Blue Ridge Christian School and joined us on “Quest High Sierra 2006”. She is currently traveling the Middle East, spending time seeking the Lord and living out of her backpack!

Cote D'Ivoire

Rubbing elbows with some of the earth’s most precious people is always a privilege. And such is the case when I recently visited Abijan, Ivory Coast. Maria Little is one of Metro’s missionaries, a nurse by profession, and has started a medical clinic in Abijan. Through this clinic God has touched the lives of many people through healing with medicine, miracles, and sharing the Gospel. Maria spent 3 months living right in the middle of the slums where the Lord opened many doors for her to share the love of Christ. I met many Pastors and leaders there who though are the poorest of the poor radiate the love of Christ everywhere they go. They are indeed precious and it was indeed my privilege to hang out with and learn from them. Maria will be coming home for a 6 to 12 month stay to raise more support and tend to some personal matters. While she’s here please take time to get to know her.

Blessings – Randy Catlett
See Randy's pictures here.

Walking in the Light in South Africa

Our team met with several different groups within the Walk in the Light Ministry, one of which was a very lively group of ladies who meet once a week to knit. During one of our meetings with the knitting group, a teenage girl named Thandeka pulled me aside. She was very interested in learning more about AIDS because, as she explained to me, she is living with someone who is HIV-positive. I began to give Thandeka advice about how to care for this person, a girl named Mbali, and said that if Mbali was still sexually active, she should cease. At that point, Thandeka interrupted me: "I don't think you understand. Mbali is only 8 years old." Thandeka went on to explain that when Mbali was 4, she was gang raped by a group of men, at least one of whom was HIV-positive. The police have supposedly found the man responsible but have done nothing to bring him to justice.

To make matters worse, Mbali's mother abandoned her at 2 weeks and cannot be found. Because her birth mother is not acting as her guardian, the South African Department of Home Affairs will not issue Mbali's birth certificate. And without a birth certificate, Mbali cannot receive the ARV medication she needs to give her a longer and healthier life. As Thandeka and her aunt wept and begged me to do something to gain access to a birth certificate for Mbali, I realized that I had never felt more helpless in all my life. I was also filled with rage over the incredible injustices done to this innocent little girl.

I have been researching the AIDS pandemic for over a year now. I have friends who are living with AIDS. Even so, I am constantly amazed at how fighting the effects of AIDS in Africa is far from a simple matter. AIDS is deeply enmeshed with issues of culture, government, and family dynamics, among other things. I feel as if I am only beginning to see what a complex issue it truly is. And my prayer is that the two weeks we spent in Pietermaritzburg have somehow served to turn the tide in at least one person's life, if not an entire community. It is reassuring to know that Walk in the Light is committed to continuing this community-changing work every day.

-Allison Hennessey

Check out the South Africa Scrapbook

The Sacrament of Daily Good

I had breakfast with ministering friend Phil Maslin a few weeks ago. He is an artist and produces beautiful work in several mediums. One is photography and he has turned some of his photos into greeting cards he sells at a few local outlets or gives to friends. While we met, he gave me a set and as I looked at them I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the cards, and equally overwhelmed that he would give away something so beautiful. I was holding a flower of his heart grown through great love, talent, and labor.

Then I thought, rather than hide his flowers because he can't make a lot of money off of them or become famous, he was giving them for whatever blessing they could be to the recipients. I realized: "Wow, this is how much of the good is done in the world-not in some world-changing action that divides history, like Jesus' death and resurrection, but also in the daily, year-after-year, hardly noticed, acts of love people do!" I was overwhelmed thinking of all the good that Phil has accomplished bit-by-bit and piece-by-piece through years of giving beauty to his friends. The cards symbolized many acts of kindness, integrity, service, confessions, and thoughtful conversations with his friends. As we talked, I learned that he was studying a book, Irresistible Influence, to learn how to better love the people he knows.
None of us will change the world by some heroic act or stunning teaching, like Jesus, but-like most of his original followers: farmers, carpenters, barbers, homemakers, bakers, tax collectors, soldiers-we many, we happy many, incrementally change the world of the people around us with good and beauty, and that is a great good.

Her full nature . . . spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. . . . the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs. (Dorthea in Middlemarch by George Elliot) Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers (Paul, Galatians 6:10). . . . let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Jesus, Matthew 5:16).

While praying recently, it struck me that almost all of our friends are doing all the good they know how to do. I was overwhelmed with the beauty and preciousness of that. I would name all your names, all you Georges and Joans and Toms and Marys and Dorises and Ruths and . . . and . . . but I cannot because the list is too long-plus, I would weep.

John Gilman