The Rev. Thomas Nibbe
Sunday, October 24, 2021
The Scriptures for today
“…I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble…” (Jeremiah 31:7-9)
“…those who sow in tears…will reap with songs of joy…”(Psalm 126:5)
“…such a high priest meets our need…one who is holy…blameless…pure…set apart from sinners…exalted abovethe heavens…”(Hebrews 7:23-28)
“…the blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.”Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.'”(Mark 10:46-52)
Would you pray with me?
Lord Jesus, We want to pray directly to you today. We want to admit,to acknowledge, that all too often we get lost in the shuffle of life. We think to ourselves, this is important, that is something I have to do, I need to take care of this, I forgot to do that…sometimes the important things squeeze outthe essentials of life—and one of those essentials iscommunicating with you, knowing that you guide us in this life, and that we can meet all our obligations, and yet,take time to reflect on your forgiveness, your grace, and your perfect plan for our lives. We accept the fact that we’ve allowed Satan to make our lives “busy” and we re-commit our lives to you, which will place all things in its proper perspective. Forgive us, Lord. Lead us, Lord. Draw us close to you, Lord. Let us rejoice in your perfect plan for our lives and those we love. Help us to be generous.In your name, we pray.Amen.
the message
The year was 1992. The Shining Path (Sundero Luminoso)
had murdered, burned, and raped its way from the remotesections of rural Peru to the very capitol, Lima. Commonly referred to as a “revolutionary Peruvian Communist” group. Lima, recently, a Paris-like city of about 380,000, had become a huge, unruly mess of eleven million persons, mostly poorfamilies with hardly no resources whatsoever. It was adesperate situation. Word had it that the Shining Path would wipe out complete villages—they’d murder completesettlements, starting with children first, and then women. (At one time Lima was the “number one destination” for folks in the Department of State. It had been the best duty possible with people in our nation’s foreign service.)
Now, it had grown to be half the population of Peru itself. Entire villages in the rural areas literally moved into Lima. Disorder was everywhere. The mighty Rimac River hadbecome a trickle. Crime had become a regular thingeverywhere in the metropolitan area in those insane and memorable days. I can recall being in a traffic jam heading south out of town—toward “El Silencio” (beach)—during a warm summer day. Women, with open carwindows would sit on their purses, to avoid robbery.
Nonetheless, on this one occasion, a boy swooped in on an automobile, pulled a purse from underneath a woman, and took off running between the cars down the way. A very decent-looking Dad-like man stepped out of his car, aimed, pointing his pistol at the boy, and shot him. The boy fell, evidently dead. Soon after, a policeman man dragged the body off the side of the road and waved the traffic on. The man got into his car and proceeded forward with the other cars. That was all there was to the matter. Nothing else was done. No names were taken. Nobody was arrested. I was shaken…
Every day some new, terrible tale would be shared by the residents of Miraflores and San Isidro, in our upscale section of Lima. The water-works down the road from our churchwould be blown up by a bomb seemingly every couple ofweeks. The government installed five policemen to guardthe parsonage where we lived. They’d walk around ourwalled-in compound twenty-four hours a day. The Americanambassador would provide an armored vehicle for me ifI had an emergency call from one of the hospitals regarding an American citizen in Lima.
Daniel Garcia was the President of Peru in those days, butlater, he was replaced by President Fujimori. Garcia tookmillions of dollars worth of government money with himoverseas, and would later in Peruvian history, return to rulea second time as a mandate from the people.
Most folks had the opinion that Fujimori was a “powder-puff”, an agriculturist who worked at the Instituto de Papas with agreat Christian friend of mine, Dr. Peter Schmideke, theinventor of the Idaho potato. Wonder of wonders, Fujimori”Got the Holy Spirit” upon news that he was elected and thenimmediately converted to Roman Catholicism. This was veryconvenient since a person must be Catholic to hold that office.When he occupied the Presidential Palace, he moved in with his girl-friend, kicked his wife out, and installed his daughter as the “first lady”. [Welcome to politics in Peru!]Furthermore, within a reasonable period of time, he gotcomplete control of the Lima police department and eventually the Peruvian army. In this regard he was brilliant. The crowning touch was the “trap” he planned and pulled off involving the police department and the Peruvian army (special forces, an elite group) in the township of San Borja in 1994, involving the captureof Chairman Gonzalo, (who died in prison, just recently).Eventually, President Fujimori would leave Peru and fleeto Japan with an estimated twenty million U.S. dollars.
In the midst of great confusion in the country, our church,the Union Church of Lima, kept their doors open. When we arrived, the parishioners were mainly foreigners, many Americans. Within our first year there, official American and Canadian representatives in Lima would be brought home. The American embassy in downtown Lima was blown to bits. A church member, I remember, asked thequestion, “Reverend, are you sorry you came to Peru?”
One wing of the American ambassador’s residence was bombed. Ambassador Anthony Quainton and Susan,members at Union Church, decided at the last minute to have a glass of milk before bedtime. Then went down into the kitchen. The bomb exploded in their bedroom. They were saved by getting a glass of milk to drink. I heard the explosion and called the ambassador. He answered saying they were alright, and asked,
“How did you get through?”
The congregation at Union Church of Lima dwindled down to a handful of souls. The Great Commissionof Matthew 28:20 came to mind…
“Therefore, Go and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and ofthe Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching themto observe everything I’ve commanded you, andsurely, I am with you always, to the very end ofthe age.”
Two things occurred to me. Most important to me,the Lord was with me in the midst of this desperate situation—Did I get my wife and daughter into thismess out of initial selfishness, or did the Lord plan to place me in this situation as His disciple becauseI could be a suitable agent?—Second of all, I waspositive I had received a commission, that is, to go and make disciples.
The first disciple was the Indian Ambassador to Peru.He had been diagnosed with a cancer. He called meup to discuss what he referred to as a “strange andwonderful notion”. He had been courting the idea offollowing Jesus. I came to the Indian residence. I talked briefly with him and I invited him to pray.
His next trip to the hospital resulted in him receivingthe indication that his cancer had disappeared. Did the clinic make a mistake? Had I been deceived into trusting that God had healed him? You be the judge. In any case he became a Christian and was baptized.
In reaching out, I met a business woman from Beijing indicating that she and her family had studied the Bible everyday late at night in the basement in China. However,she had not been baptized because she wanted to bebaptized in a church. I received her powerful confession of faith and baptized her the following Sunday.
Our choir acquired two new tenors, one from Ghana, onefrom Canada, and yet another from the Ukraine. The church was beginning to fill up again with foreigners of all types…and yes…local Peruvians and lots of Koreans, who preferred to worship in English because they were from the so-called”international” set. Eventually the Americans and Canadiansreturned with a goodly number attending Sunday worship.
Meanwhile, during this same dire period, my daughter, Shamaand I were walking our dog, Toby, on Avenida Angamos, whenfrom the north end of the avenue, a large number of government troops were moving in our direction, and at the same time, theSundero forces were proceeding from the south end. Bothforces started firing with automatic weapons…and we werecaught in the midst of the fire. I pushed my daughter into aravine and hopped on top of her to protect her from the fire.Toby made his way to our side. The firing continued, but wesomehow managed to survive without being hit. Somehowwe were able to return unharmed to the parsonage after the scrimmage. Shama, and perhaps Priscilla, needed to returnto the States. I would stay. I knew I had a role to play in Peru.
During this height of anxiety and terror, we continued at thechurch, to encourage large numbers of foreign adoptive parents to stay the course since they were willing and committed to do so. We would meet with the group on Friday afternoons. In those years, hundreds of couples from all around the world, but especially the United States, wouldcome to Peru to adopt those babies that had been orphaned by terrorists, and also, those babies whose parents couldn’t afford to keep them because of poverty.
In the course of this national confusion, the governmentfailed. There were no certifications of adoption, becausethere were no judges to grant them. Couples and perspectiveparents were stuck in Peru, unless they gave their babies up.Since most had bonded, they weren’t willing to do that. Homes back in the States were mortgaged. Automobileswere sold to cover the cost of staying at hotels in Lima.
Some married women who had been childless in the States depended on their husbands working back home to sustain them in Peru, but became pregnant while awaiting decrees of adoption. How does one address this particular issue with your husband back home? I can attest to extremely sensitive counseling sessions during those trying times…a backgroundin formal pastoral counseling training was without a doubt a saving grace for many, many couples.
The prospective parents were devastated, sorely disappointed,and broken. Our meetings on Friday were life-saving for those tender-hearted folks in those dark days. Most, or maybe all, would have proceeded to do terrible things to themselves—or their children—without the fellowship and counseling provided constantly. What a blessing it was to provide respite to the distressed. I was so glad I had left my first congregation to do advanced degree work in pastoral counseling. The stage was set for one of the landmark experiences I have had as a pastor over these fifty-three years…
To reflect…God is a gentleman. He doesn’t force “religion” onfolks who need it. God allows women and men to volunteer to receive Him as Lord and Savior…freely without pressureexerted—no twisting of arms… As the coordinator—of thisprogram the Union Church of Lima provided (free of charge) for these beleaguered prospective mothers and fathers, I sensed the Lord would provide a means to witness to the hardest of hearts in terms of receiving Jesus as a personal Lord and Savior. The opportunity arrived…
The Lord impressed upon my mind and heart an essentialelement in a life of faith in Christ. That essential was this:to remain “present” in your existential situation, pleasant orunpleasant; to express gratitude in the face of impendingdisaster, to choose the present situation as the preferentialsituation, not matter how seemingly terrible and unbearable…And in this, not to prefer or imagine some glorious alternative.
I understand. Some of you are not willing to accept this.Okay. I can handle that. However, note these Scriptures;
“…and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose…”(Romans 8:28)
“…these have come so that your faith—of greater worththan gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory,and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed…”( 1 Peter 1:7)
“…Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, byprayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requeststo God, and the peace of God, which transcends allunderstanding, will guard your hearts and your mindsin Christ Jesus…”(Philippians 4:6-7)
It was Friday…in the afternoon. The adoptive parental group gathered. Many didn’t want to come because of extreme depression, grief and personal pain brought on by stress. As usual, I encouraged everybody to feelcomfortable, have something to drink or eat, and expresswhatever may have been on their mind.
There was simply an outpouring expression of pain anddepression from every participant. It was understandable,but hard to bear. The common sense of negative empathy in the group was what kept them there. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling at all. I asked the women and men to share whatthey were feeling. As people shared, there occurred a strongfeeling that the sharing was not helping. A medical doctor,a perspective parent, representing the group, asked if I wouldbe able to help the emotional upheaval obvious in the group.
I was astonished. I paused as though I had everything under control. (Normally in a situation like this was, I empathize with the feeling, often thinking I can share in the burden. I’ve learned that this a false sense.) The people were waiting to hear from me. The formerly proud by their situation. They weren’t ready to hear just any advice, but I knew my words were needed. They had come to respect me and they knew I committed not tomanipulate them in any way. They trusted in me at this point. I felt the Lord had prepared me for this moment.
I opened my mouth not knowing what I would say. I letthe Holy Spirit speak for me. I suggested to them thatthis set of circumstances for them in Peru was no accident.All that happened and all that would happen was part ofGod’s perfect plan for their lives. I suggested that theynot despair, but know that God did not cause the difficultiesthey were experiencing but He allowed them to happen.
I encouraged them to let God remove the anxiety anddepression from their hearts and minds, and accept thepresent set of circumstances, trusting that God wouldbring them through the confusion and frustration. Furthermore, I mentioned the importance of keepingpositive, of having positive thoughts, and of not takingthe “lower road”. I had memorized the verses listed above and shared them within the context of saying that whether they had a church or synagogue affiliation—or not—they needed to move from thinking that my “sharing opportunity” was “religious” advice.
I amazed some of the folks by suggesting that I was not religious, but nonetheless, a man of faith and prayer…and that would be enough…sufficient…not only for me…but for them. There was a brief comment by one of the women relating to Peter’s reference to “genuine faith”. I responded by saying that the Lord most likely initiated the desire for fulfilling their need to have a child of theirown, in order that they might live their lives as peopleof faith and positive thinking, no matter what could happen.
Lord, help me! I wasn’t sure if I was communicating stuffthat would take. The response was overwhelming. Wow!Two hundred perspective parents—all present—accepted my invitation to receive Christ in their lives. I invited them to repeat after me, these words:
“Lord Jesus, I turn from my way, and in repentance, I freely choose to follow you. I know that you died on the cross for my sins. I know that you died and rose from the dead for this moment when I accept your free gift of eternal life. Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you for loving me and bringingme to faith. I commend my body, soul, and mind into your keeping. In your name I pray. Amen.”
Things in the government cleared up. The courts beganto grant decrees of adoption. We received many fromthe group in Sunday morning worship. Eventually, allof the perspective parents took their children back hometo the States. I recall the troubled times in Peru—with different eyes.
Cordially,Tom
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