Incarnational Suffering: What do Missionaries do in the Midst of Trials?(part 1)

Friday afternoon, July 24th, I received a phone call that changed my life forever. I received a call to meet my wife at the doctor's office.

My wife had a sonogram, she was 17 weeks pregnant at the time, which showed fluid on the baby's brain and a cyst was discovered on the baby's spinal column. Also, my wife was producing more placenta than normal posing a very high risk to her health.

(Also, my wife has a blood deficiency which makes very prone to clotting. She has already had several clots in her lungs and stomach. Several weeks ago, the same doctor discovered a clot in her stomach.)

We were left to make an almost impossible decision with a number of risk factors. We could continue doing tests that only increase my wife's health risks, or we could end the pregnancy.

The very next day, Saturday, my wife's health worsened. She was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed having early signs of preeclampsia. Her chances of safely caring the baby to a healthy premature stage was now unlikely. The chances of the baby surviving after birth--even less likely. The decision was made to induce labor.

We lost Baby Mills on Monday, July 27th.

This has certainly been a horrific experience, one that I would not wish on anyone. We have seen Christ with us through all of this! He is indeed our Great High Priest who is able to sympathize with my weakness and remains sinless. We have drawn from the confidence that Christ is alive and well, interceding on our behalf! But this last week, I have been asking my self 100's of questions, these are just a few.

How are missionaries supposed to suffer? How do we deal with grief? Is there such a thing as suffering Incarnationally? What does the Non-Christian community think when they see Christians suffering? What about the role of the church when it comes to suffering? How should the church handle grief and suffering?

-to be continued...

Moldy Cup Lady

One of the great things about being a barista at Starbucks is that any time a customer has a problem and wants to complain about something, you can always say, "Here is my supervisor and he'll answer any of your questions." Then you get to watch all the action from a safe distance.

I just happen to be a supervisor.

On one such occasion, a lady came into my store and wanted to exchange a coffee mug for a new coffee mug. The problem was she did not have a receipt, a big issue when wanting to exchange something at Starbucks. (The policy is there must be a receipt and the purchase has to be within 3 months, neither applied with this lady) She of course began with the barista at the register, who very quickly handed the situation over to me.

She began explaining to me what she wanted and why. She had apparently received a starbucks tumbler at Christmas (this story takes place during April) and some mold had formed on the inside of the cup. So, she wanted to replace it.

My response: "I'm very sorry but our policy states..." This just mad her more mad and replied, "Well where is this policy written? I want to see it!" This threw me off guard. Like there is some Starbucks Bible in the back or something.

The discussion continued as she tried to coerce me to give in and give her what she wanted, but my reply was always, "I'm very sorry, but our policy says..." Finally, when she realized she wasn't getting a free tumbler, she said, "Well this is a tragedy."

I live in one of the most affluent counties in the U.S. with the highest cost of living in the U.S. Million dollar homes housing million dollar attitudes. And here was a lady trying to convince me that this $15 moldy cup was a "tragedy."

9/11, Iranian protesters, Burmese monks protesting, malnutrition in third-world countries, third-world countries, North Korean nuclear threat, poverty, sex trafficking, starvation, women's rights in the Middle East, etc...

How do you even begin to share the gospel, let alone be an incarnational missionary, with someone whose uses the word tragedy to describe a moldy Starbucks cup?

The lady never returned or took up my offer to speak with the store manager. And for all I know her cup is still moldy.

I'm beginning to understand a little more about what Jesus meant when he commented on how difficult it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. "When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions." Mat. 19:22