A Woman of Faith
09/05/19 05:23
the 9th chapter of the book of Acts begins with the conversion of Saul followed by a couple of reports of Saul preaching at Damascus and Jerusalem. Then it returns to stories about Peter and ends with a couple of healings. Aeneas was paralyzed and bedridden, but he gets out of bed when Peter invites him to do so. The next story is about the only woman expressly named as a disciple. Tabitha, whose Greek name is Dorcas, was devoted to good works and acts of charity.
Most of us know the grandmothers of our communities. We recognize the scene into which Peter comes. They have laid out the woman after her illness and death and called for Peter to come. When he arrives, there are a few tears, and the women who are present are all showing one another all of the tunics and other clothing that she had made when she was alive. I’m not Peter, but this scene is so familiar to me. The churches I have served have had their quilters and crafters and sewers and when a beloved grandmother dies they are quick to show off her handiwork. Like Peter, I’ve said my prayers while viewing the body.
Our congregation lost a grandmother of our faith this week. She wasn’t living in our town any longer, but we all remember her fondly.
the first time I met Mae Louise she stood out from some of the other grandmothers of the church I was meeting because she wasn’t interested in showing me her craftwork. She wanted to talk about a connection she and her husband had made in Costa Rica. After a career as a YMCA director, George had volunteered to serve the YMCA in Costa Rica for three years. Traveling with George, Mae Louise had made contacts with the church in Costa Rica through the United Church of Christ’s person to person travel program. They didn’t just attend a church while in Costa Rica. They asked around. They met missionaries who were providing essential services in a squatter community and trying to establish a church to serve recent immigrants to Costa Rica. They met leaders and others who are working to serve the community which was mostly women who had fled violence in Nicaragua and El Salvador and were struggling to provide for their children.
After the three years were finished, George and Mae Louise kept going back. They would return each year for Vacation Bible School at the tiny church. Then they would come back to our church in Rapid City and tell stories about the little community Christian church of Los Guido.
Shortly after I became pastor of our Rapid City congregation, Mae Louise wanted to meet with me to talk about how our church could provide more support for the congregation in Costa Rica. Our conversations eventually led to four intergenerational mission trips to our sister church, and a visits by the missionary couple and the the pastor of the church in Costa Rica and her daughters.
It was pretty clear that I wasn’t the only one Mae Louise was talking to. Soon another couple from our church were making the annual trek to Costa Rica for Vacation Bible School. That was 18 years ago. In total, someone from our church has participated in Vacation Bible School at the little church every year for the past 31. The first dozen years George and Mae Louise were keeping that relationship alive all by themselves.
Over the years, the two congregations have partnered in big programs such as the purchase of an additional house for church leaders and programs. Without a doubt our biggest shared ministry is a feeding program that serves nutritious meals to children two days each week and supplies good food for many families in the community.
Around the edges there have been so many stories. Mae Louise would go through the pictures of trips to Costa Rica. We learned that she didn’t always have the right name with the right child, but she had a passion for serving others that was simply contagious. If she could care so much about serving others, the least we could do was to support her work.
We learned that she had a similar effect on others. In Worthington, Minnesota a Lutheran Church where George and Mae Louise had been members during a brief time serving the YMCA there before moving to Rapid City continues to be faithful supporters of Costa Rica ministries. It all started with friendships that Mae Louise forged with the folks there.
But unlike Peter in the stories of the book of Acts, I cannot go to the place where Mae Louise is. She and George moved to Florida years ago. I can imagine part of the scene as a couple from our church, who are now the principal promoters of our Costa Rica ministries were there visiting Mae Louise, celebrating her birthday, and recalling that George also died on May 8, 13 years ago.
Unlike Peter, there will be no one to take Mae Louise’s hand and invite her to get up and return to life in this world. There is no doubt that she has already been embraced by God and by George in that realm where all of God’s children gather in peace. We would not do well to wish for her to return, even temporarily.
And there is no room down there in Florida where the other widows are gathered around to show off the clothing and handwork that Mae Louise has done. In its place, we can gather in clusters all around the world. Wherever there are people who knew George and Mae Louise, we can get together and marvel at the work they did in Costa Rica. Already we’ve received email from our Costa Rica partners and the process of telling the stories of a woman who dedicated her life to serving others is in full swing. I’ve already discovered that I’m fully capable of placing the wrong name on the kids in the picture. And each time that someone gently corrects me, I’ll be thinking of Mae Louise.
And when we sing a song of the saints of God, we’ll be singing of Mae Louise and George.
Most of us know the grandmothers of our communities. We recognize the scene into which Peter comes. They have laid out the woman after her illness and death and called for Peter to come. When he arrives, there are a few tears, and the women who are present are all showing one another all of the tunics and other clothing that she had made when she was alive. I’m not Peter, but this scene is so familiar to me. The churches I have served have had their quilters and crafters and sewers and when a beloved grandmother dies they are quick to show off her handiwork. Like Peter, I’ve said my prayers while viewing the body.
Our congregation lost a grandmother of our faith this week. She wasn’t living in our town any longer, but we all remember her fondly.
the first time I met Mae Louise she stood out from some of the other grandmothers of the church I was meeting because she wasn’t interested in showing me her craftwork. She wanted to talk about a connection she and her husband had made in Costa Rica. After a career as a YMCA director, George had volunteered to serve the YMCA in Costa Rica for three years. Traveling with George, Mae Louise had made contacts with the church in Costa Rica through the United Church of Christ’s person to person travel program. They didn’t just attend a church while in Costa Rica. They asked around. They met missionaries who were providing essential services in a squatter community and trying to establish a church to serve recent immigrants to Costa Rica. They met leaders and others who are working to serve the community which was mostly women who had fled violence in Nicaragua and El Salvador and were struggling to provide for their children.
After the three years were finished, George and Mae Louise kept going back. They would return each year for Vacation Bible School at the tiny church. Then they would come back to our church in Rapid City and tell stories about the little community Christian church of Los Guido.
Shortly after I became pastor of our Rapid City congregation, Mae Louise wanted to meet with me to talk about how our church could provide more support for the congregation in Costa Rica. Our conversations eventually led to four intergenerational mission trips to our sister church, and a visits by the missionary couple and the the pastor of the church in Costa Rica and her daughters.
It was pretty clear that I wasn’t the only one Mae Louise was talking to. Soon another couple from our church were making the annual trek to Costa Rica for Vacation Bible School. That was 18 years ago. In total, someone from our church has participated in Vacation Bible School at the little church every year for the past 31. The first dozen years George and Mae Louise were keeping that relationship alive all by themselves.
Over the years, the two congregations have partnered in big programs such as the purchase of an additional house for church leaders and programs. Without a doubt our biggest shared ministry is a feeding program that serves nutritious meals to children two days each week and supplies good food for many families in the community.
Around the edges there have been so many stories. Mae Louise would go through the pictures of trips to Costa Rica. We learned that she didn’t always have the right name with the right child, but she had a passion for serving others that was simply contagious. If she could care so much about serving others, the least we could do was to support her work.
We learned that she had a similar effect on others. In Worthington, Minnesota a Lutheran Church where George and Mae Louise had been members during a brief time serving the YMCA there before moving to Rapid City continues to be faithful supporters of Costa Rica ministries. It all started with friendships that Mae Louise forged with the folks there.
But unlike Peter in the stories of the book of Acts, I cannot go to the place where Mae Louise is. She and George moved to Florida years ago. I can imagine part of the scene as a couple from our church, who are now the principal promoters of our Costa Rica ministries were there visiting Mae Louise, celebrating her birthday, and recalling that George also died on May 8, 13 years ago.
Unlike Peter, there will be no one to take Mae Louise’s hand and invite her to get up and return to life in this world. There is no doubt that she has already been embraced by God and by George in that realm where all of God’s children gather in peace. We would not do well to wish for her to return, even temporarily.
And there is no room down there in Florida where the other widows are gathered around to show off the clothing and handwork that Mae Louise has done. In its place, we can gather in clusters all around the world. Wherever there are people who knew George and Mae Louise, we can get together and marvel at the work they did in Costa Rica. Already we’ve received email from our Costa Rica partners and the process of telling the stories of a woman who dedicated her life to serving others is in full swing. I’ve already discovered that I’m fully capable of placing the wrong name on the kids in the picture. And each time that someone gently corrects me, I’ll be thinking of Mae Louise.
And when we sing a song of the saints of God, we’ll be singing of Mae Louise and George.