Eloquent Farewell Speech
Today we had a special commissioning service for the Misael and Regina Aguilar family. The parents and five young children plan to leave this week to live in El Salvador, Misael's native country. They will help to build a facility for Strong Tower Children's Home and contribute to the work otherwise. Seeing this happen is the fulfillment of a dream Misael has had for many years.
The dream no doubt was nurtured when he was a young boy, and financial hardship after his father's death necessitated his being cared for at an orphanage. He speaks now of that time of his life having been filled with pleasant memories. The house parents were David and Susanna Yoder, now our bishop and his wife.
Misael shared two memories of his time at the orphanage today when he spoke at church.
Whenever Misael had been away from the orphanage for a short time, he always found a note on his pillow from Susanna when he returned. These notes assured him that he had been missed; he was welcome back; and he was loved. Misael said today that those notes helped give him a sense of self-worth.
Misael also remembers a time during El Salvador's Civil War when armed robbers came to steal from the orphanage. All the residents of the orphanage waited in the living room while the robbers searched the premises for valuables. When the unwelcome visitors arrived back in the living room preparing to exit, one robber had difficulty hoisting his backpack because it was so heavily loaded with stolen goods that he couldn't lift it while hanging on to his gun with the other hand. David kindly helped lift the backpack comfortably onto the thief's back. Misael spoke of this incident as having been a powerful demonstration to him of the way of nonresistance.
From his vantage point now, after 8 years of living in Kansas and being part of our church here, Misael sees that many who are part of the older generation in our congregation blessed his life long before he even knew of their existence. Through their support of the mission work in El Salvador, personnel and funds were available for him and others like him to have good food every day and a comfortable bed every night. Misael expressed his profound gratitude.
Misael went on to remind us that we are among the wealthiest 5% of the world's population. As such we are a unique people with unprecedented opportunities.
Citing United Nations statistics, he told us how many millions of orphans will likely be part of the world population by 2010. This will be an unprecedented situation of need.
Misael expressed gratefulness and admiration for the passion he sensed at times when he had an opportunity to spend time with the young people of our church, especially during an all-night prayer and missions awareness gathering he attended. He quoted our son Shane, who had spoken to the group about Esther who had come to the kingdom "for such a time as this." Misael believes that all of us are part of the kingdom of God now, with our remarkable wealth and gifts and passion because the needs now are remarkable also, and an all-wise God has strategically paired the prepared people and the needy children of this time.
With the skills of an accomplished orater, Misael pulled all the strands of his presentation together by calling to mind an image Kansans are familiar with--gathering the harvest. The harvest of souls will be gathered in when God's people pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into his harvest. But prayer is not the end of the harvest. As Misael said "When the grain is ready, we don't go to the house to pray. We go to the field and start gathering."
Misael speaks heavily accented English, but today I was in awe of his command of language and his ability to convey deep truths in a memorable way. The fact that I could reconstruct the essence of his talk without having taken notes gives evidence of the sound organization of his presentation and the effectiveness of his delivery.
Kingdom work sometimes seems long and hard. But today, in a mature, capable, and passionate Christian man who was once a needy child that someone cared for and taught well, we saw how a modest investment can produce phenomenal dividends. When one who was "gathered" himself becomes a "gatherer," the cycle of multiplication that is part of the kingdom economy is in effect, and people are blessed, and God is glorified. My heart is warmed.
The dream no doubt was nurtured when he was a young boy, and financial hardship after his father's death necessitated his being cared for at an orphanage. He speaks now of that time of his life having been filled with pleasant memories. The house parents were David and Susanna Yoder, now our bishop and his wife.
Misael shared two memories of his time at the orphanage today when he spoke at church.
Whenever Misael had been away from the orphanage for a short time, he always found a note on his pillow from Susanna when he returned. These notes assured him that he had been missed; he was welcome back; and he was loved. Misael said today that those notes helped give him a sense of self-worth.
Misael also remembers a time during El Salvador's Civil War when armed robbers came to steal from the orphanage. All the residents of the orphanage waited in the living room while the robbers searched the premises for valuables. When the unwelcome visitors arrived back in the living room preparing to exit, one robber had difficulty hoisting his backpack because it was so heavily loaded with stolen goods that he couldn't lift it while hanging on to his gun with the other hand. David kindly helped lift the backpack comfortably onto the thief's back. Misael spoke of this incident as having been a powerful demonstration to him of the way of nonresistance.
From his vantage point now, after 8 years of living in Kansas and being part of our church here, Misael sees that many who are part of the older generation in our congregation blessed his life long before he even knew of their existence. Through their support of the mission work in El Salvador, personnel and funds were available for him and others like him to have good food every day and a comfortable bed every night. Misael expressed his profound gratitude.
Misael went on to remind us that we are among the wealthiest 5% of the world's population. As such we are a unique people with unprecedented opportunities.
Citing United Nations statistics, he told us how many millions of orphans will likely be part of the world population by 2010. This will be an unprecedented situation of need.
Misael expressed gratefulness and admiration for the passion he sensed at times when he had an opportunity to spend time with the young people of our church, especially during an all-night prayer and missions awareness gathering he attended. He quoted our son Shane, who had spoken to the group about Esther who had come to the kingdom "for such a time as this." Misael believes that all of us are part of the kingdom of God now, with our remarkable wealth and gifts and passion because the needs now are remarkable also, and an all-wise God has strategically paired the prepared people and the needy children of this time.
With the skills of an accomplished orater, Misael pulled all the strands of his presentation together by calling to mind an image Kansans are familiar with--gathering the harvest. The harvest of souls will be gathered in when God's people pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into his harvest. But prayer is not the end of the harvest. As Misael said "When the grain is ready, we don't go to the house to pray. We go to the field and start gathering."
Misael speaks heavily accented English, but today I was in awe of his command of language and his ability to convey deep truths in a memorable way. The fact that I could reconstruct the essence of his talk without having taken notes gives evidence of the sound organization of his presentation and the effectiveness of his delivery.
Kingdom work sometimes seems long and hard. But today, in a mature, capable, and passionate Christian man who was once a needy child that someone cared for and taught well, we saw how a modest investment can produce phenomenal dividends. When one who was "gathered" himself becomes a "gatherer," the cycle of multiplication that is part of the kingdom economy is in effect, and people are blessed, and God is glorified. My heart is warmed.
posted by Mrs. I at
9:01 PM
2 Comments:
We just read your article out loud to the family during our devotional time.
Very Good!
By
Anonymous, at 8/21/2006
Is there any way you can send me a printable form of this entry? I was telling Misael's brother, Juan (Chico)about the entry. He very much wants to read it but has no internet access. What you said about Misael reminded me so much of Juan, and the way he and his family minister to people. It was a wonderful testimony how little things go a long ways in shaping people's lives.
By
Anonymous, at 8/23/2006
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