Grateful

This is a guest post from Kayla Bilby, a student at Oklahoma Christian University and a fellow member of the Contact Church. It first appeared as one of her notes on Facebook. I thought she did a great job of capturing the spirit of the Contact Church.

"During fall break my college group participated in a mission trip to Contact. We went out to both Edenwood & Parkview. It was such a huge blessing to have my college group here experiencing the ministry that I love so much!

"After being at Contact for over a year I have had to learn that often times I will meet children once. They will share their life story, and as my heart breaks I will tell them goodbye, knowing that I may never see them again. This is not always the case. There are also times when a mission group comes to help us & I meet kids that will start coming to Contact & I will get to develop a lasting relationship with them. But more often than not it is the prior scenario.

"Friday I had an experience with a girl that I will probably never see again. Her name was Makayla & she was 9 years old. She began to tell me her life story. Her 9th birthday was this past August. She said that she had stayed the night with her Dad. He acted as though her birthday didn't even exist! She didn't even receive so much as a happy birthday from this man. He cussed her & took her back to her Mom in the middle of the night. Spending a birthday like this had to be unbearable! She went on to say that when she got home her Mom had one cupcake for her. It had very little icing & was just the way she likes it. Her exact statement was, "My Dad was a jerk, but I'm so grateful that my Mom got me a cupcake & made me feel special!" Grateful? How in the world is grateful an emotion you feel when you are so mistreated & devalued by the man who is supposed to love & protect you? This nine year old little girl is stronger then I have ever dreamed of being!

"Hearing her story absolutely broke my heart! I had no idea how to respond to this situation. All I could say was, "Makayla, God is our Daddy that never messes up! HE has never forgotten your birthday & even better then that, you are special to HIM every single day, not just on your birthday." She went on to tell me that she would be moving this coming Monday. I gave her my phone number, hugged her, & walked away. I have no idea what good that will do. I have no way to know if she will ever call me or if I will ever see her again. What I do know is that God was at work during our brief encounter. I am finally figuring out that my job in inner city ministry is not to "fix" the problems in their lives. My job is also not to get them out of their situation. And it certainly is not to minimize the influence that one encounter could have on his or her life. My job is simply to point these kids to the one who CAN. My God CAN and WILL sustain HIS children through whatever life throws at them! Because of this today I am grateful for the opportunity HE has given me to be in ministry. I am grateful for a family who is involved in Contact. I am grateful for a boyfriend who doesn't only support my ministry, but does it with me. I am grateful for all of the kids that I have been blessed to meet through Contact. I am grateful for the opportunity to meet Makayla & I am grateful for what HE will accomplish through these relationships.

"Lord, never allow me to belittle the work that you have began. Help me to remember that you are not finished yet..."

An Encouraging Word From a Contact Church Member

Kayla Bilby is a student at Oklahoma Christian University and one of our summer interns at the Contact Church. If you would like to be encouraged, check out her blog post from last night at http://kaylabilby.blogspot.com/2010/05/let-god-brag-on-you.html.

Memories

I received my Bachelor of Science in Education (B.S.E.) degree from Oklahoma Christian University. With a minor in social studies, I took several classes under Dr. John Thompson. I was reminded of those days when I read the article about Dr. Thompson at www.christianchronicle.org/article2158717~Remembering_the_booming_voice%2C_intellectual_vigor_of_John_Thompson. It brought back many good memories.

Another Reason to Anticipate Heaven

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Revelation 21:1-4).

Twenty years ago, I was a junior at Oklahoma Christian University who was majoring in education and minoring in social studies. During that time, I studied under one of the greatest men I have ever known: Dr. John Thompson. I always enjoyed his classes. In his class on the American Presidency, he would rile up the students (who were mostly Republicans) by always referring to FDR as "The Great Franklin Delano Roosevelt," with a twinkle in his eyes and a smile on his face. He would speak with passion on the topics of W.E.B. Du Bois and other early African American leaders. His laughter was as contagious as his kindness. I spent hours between classes in his office discussing everything from history to politics to our common faith in Christ. He never complained about the time I wasted; in fact, he seemed to enjoy our conversations as much as I did.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from Oklahoma Christian informing me that Dr. Thompson had passed away. He was a great man...a legend. His presence with Christ now is one more reason to anticipate heaven. We will meet again someday to share the laughter and joy forever.

See more about Dr. John Thompson at http://blogs.oc.edu/ee/index.php?/ocnews/oc_family_mourns_passing_of_dr_john_thompson/.

Christ's Church in Rwanda

We have been attending the International Soul Winning Workshop at the Fairgrounds in Tulsa for the last few days. The ISWW is an annual conference of the Churches of Christ and Christian Churches.

Yesterday, I attended a session in which participants were informed about new mission work in Rwanda, the African country that was torn apart by genocide in 1994. During 100 days in the spring and early summer of that year, at least 800,000 people were murdered because of "ethnic" hatred.

Oklahoma Christian University President Mike O'Neal and faculty member Brian Hickson presented the following information about the new mission work:

The Challenge:
1. Poverty---Rwandans earn less than $1 a day, but gasoline costs more than $6 per gallon. The nation has a 40% unemployment rate.
2. HIV/AIDS---250,000 people are infected.
3. Orphans---Genocide and AIDS have left 500,000 orphans. Twenty-six percent of the children are orphans.
4. Education---Only 7.5% of Rwandans have completed secondary school.
5. Loss of Faith---Public institutions, governments, families, churches, and neighbors have failed the people.

When Rwandan President Paul Kagame visited Minneapolis in 2003, he met the Lawson family, a Christian family with ties to Oklahoma Christian University. They invited Mike O'Neal and Uganda missionary Dave Jenkins with them on a trip to Rwanda as guests of President Kagame.

Because of the friendship formed with President Kagame during that trip, the Churches of Christ have been allowed to enter Rwanda. In fact, the government has allowed a church to purchase some nice property in the capitol city. So, three weeks ago, Christ's Church in Rwanda had its first worship assembly. (The church is called "Christ's Church" in Rwanda, because "Church of Christ" had been registered with the government by a group without theological ties to the Churches of Christ and Christian Churches in America.)

Christ's Church in Rwanda has a great opportunity to help many people who have been turned off by the "Christianity" in their country that either condoned or encouraged the ethnic murders of a few years ago. Christ's Church has a opportunity to practice and promote genuine faith in Jesus Christ. "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world" (James 1:27, NASB). I hope that the new church makes a great difference for good in an area that has experienced so much evil.

More information about the mission in Rwanda can be found at http://www.rocfoundation.org.