Heroes
Though you wouldn't think it based on the media's portrayal of the war, there is more than a body count coming out of Iraq. Army Spc. Monica Brown, is one of many to be honored for great acts of heroism. The story of her courage to administer medical aid to severely wounded soldiers while under heavy fire is riveting.
Accounts like this makes me think of all the unsung heroes in the church. Though I've only heard a few stories from the Rock's mission trips over spring break, there are several people that I would love to give a "medal of valor" to.
John Burdine, Jr. - After being encouraged to swing through NIU to see how we might assist whatever God is doing there in the aftermath of the brutal shootings, John and his team stepped foot onto the campus not sure what to do or even where to go. After several hours of awkwardness, God inspired John to just be honest with people. So he led his crew to tell people, "We are from Iowa State and we just spent our spring break in Chicago, and we wanted to swing through here on our way home because we heard about the shootings last month and wanted to give you our condolences and to see if things are going all right."
Upon hearing this, the students were immediately thankful and appreciative, and spiritual conversation was natural after that. With violence and death being such a hard thing to talk about, John and his team demonstrated what real love looks like.
Jenny Larson - Physically scarred from a bout with cancer, Jenny would have every excuse to be reserved and wounded, but that would be among the last things anyone would say about her. While home over spring break to help her family with the chores, Jenny would milk the cows especially early (like 5 am!) so she could drive to Decorah to help the few of us who were surveying the campus to find out what God is doing there and get the gospel out. She was not only bold in talking to people about the Lord, but she aggressively networked with local Christian leaders to help me get the big picture of the needs in NE Iowa.
On the second day of our labors at Luther College, Jenny was pulled aside by security who were concerned about what we were doing on their campus. Security directed us all to the campus ministries center for approval. As we met with Pastor Amy Larson, Jenny initiated by sharing her testimony in 15 seconds flat and proudly identified herself as "born again". Jenny modeled a confidence in Christ with such grace that it put everyone at ease in a very tense situation.
Rex Borseth - At the risk of showing nepotism, I've got to mention how proud I am of my son, Rex. This was his second spring break mission trip with college students, but this one was much more evangelical in nature sharing the gospel both in a mall in Cedar Falls and on campus at Luther. At 14 years of age, it would be very understandable for Rex to stand in the shadows in the face of 18 - 24 year old college students, but he didn't! He boldly took students through the survey and would offer comments during conversations about God and faith.
While sharing with me, Rex complained that he felt useless because I did all the talking and never gave him a chance. Surprised, I went ahead and gave him the survey and he led me and others in bringing up matters of faith in Christ. Rex reminded us all that the Holy Spirit is not hindered by age, education, or experience and neither should we.
All three of these warriors deserve to be honored among God's people!
Comments
thanks for posting that story, tim. it really made me think about the spiritual battle parallels. are we well equipped to handle it when we run over life's IEDs? do we know how to help our fellow soldiers when that happens? do we know how to help guard our fellow soldiers from the enemy's onslaught? have we given up our "each man for himself" mentalities? anyway, it was good for me to mull over...
Posted by: Autumn at March 26, 2008 09:42 AM