Here I am, Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart. This hymn is likely my favorite. I love it when we sing it in worship, at Community Chats, in choir, really wherever and whenever we sing this song, it stirs my heart. To me, this is the core of who we are meant to be. These four lines above convey our doubts. Lord, are you sure it’s me, is it I Lord? It confirms our fears. You’re calling me in the night when I’m vulnerable and maybe not feeling safe, you’re calling me out of darkness into the light. If I go, will You go with me? Are You sure that you will be there and that You will continue to lead me? If I can count on all that, I will serve with all my heart. Entire books are written on the subject of serving and yet Dan Schutte, Jesuit priest, contemporary musician and liturgist, writing this song in 1981, captures the whole thing in four lines. We are almost finished with our current series on the book Called by Rev. Dr. Mark Labberton, President of Fuller Theological Seminary. This issue of First Pres Magazine features stories of members of our congregation, past and present, and how they responded to God’s call on their life. We continue to wonder what exciting things God is calling you today? Send us an e-mail at Called@first-pres. org and share your story with us. As you look over your calendar for the rest of the summer, mark Sunday, August 16 as our big kick-off Sunday. Worship is as normal that morning and we will gather in the late afternoon for fun activities for kids, a picnic and music on the Weber Street Lawn. Be called by God. Respond. Do great things! Enjoy your summer,
Alison
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July 2015 contents Called to Cuba . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Jan Barnes Signposts on the Road to Purpose . . . . 6 Lindy Keffer 8
Called to Take a Step of Faith . . . . . . 8 Casey Keegan Master Designer . . . . . . . . . . . Dale McClure
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Contributing Writers: Matt Fox, Cori Wroten Contributing Editors: Matthew Fox, Alison Murray Graphic Design: Beryl Glass Proofreading Team: Mary Bauman, Deb Berwick, Christine Dellacroce, Betty Haney, Daisy Jackson, Marty Kelley, Karen Kunstle, Linda Pung, Chris Sebby All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, © 2011 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. First Pres Magazine July 2015, Volume Seven, © First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs, CO. Published by First Presbyterian Church, a non-profit organization. To contact First Pres Magazine: 719-884-6144 or 219 E. Bijou Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903-1392 or magazine@first-pres.org. Printed in the U.S.A.
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called to cuba By Jan Barnes
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he more I know about Cuba, the less I understand. That was my impression of Cuba during my first mission trip in March 2014. I saw a collage of poverty. The picture included a poverty of trust, of meaningful work, of fun, food, toilet paper and soap. Collage is a great word picture because you never seem to get the full picture of Cuba, just partial pictures piled one on top of another, juxtaposed, contradicting, covering part of the truth or part of the history. The decision to join a mission trip to Cuba was a surprise to me. Cuba was not on my bucket list. My husband, Phil, saw the announcement and said, “Let’s go.” I signed up, not imagining what would unfold. I didn’t
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think I had anything to offer the team, though I did mention to the trip leader, Don Wallace, that I was a Stephen Minister. Suddenly, Don asked me if I would be willing to lead a day of training for a group of prison chaplains. Another team member, Gus Clement, and I met with Benito, who was visiting from Cuba and serves as the leader of the prison chaplain group. There was an immediate connection with Benito as he described the training needs, and his list matched what Gus and I had written in our draft. Never would I have imagined myself to be standing in a Cuban government building in front of 20 prison chaplains — three of whom were previously convicted of murder — teaching listening skills. The energy in the
room was palpable. We divided the large group into small groups of three and gave this assignment: one person would share a personal heart concern, a second person would be an observer and the third person had undisclosed instructions to act like a listener who could care less. The animated Cubans seized the opportunity to act out. Some of the assigned listeners stood up, and while the person needing care was pouring out their story, walked away to look out the window, or pulled a pocket mirror out and smeared lipstick on her lips or checked his watch and yawned. The room was then filled with Spanish chatter as the small group discussed what it felt like to share their heart and have someone so clearly not care. The exercise was successful. The group laughed and learned that listening is a serious skill. When the chaplains walk into a stark prison setting and sit across from a prisoner, their body posture, eagerness to hear and understand and expression of deep caring is the face of Jesus to prisoners. They are light in the dark isolation; love in a cavernous void of caring. For decades, chaplains were not allowed in the prisons. It’s amazing that today chaplains are ministering to prisoners in the name of Christ. The training time was a rich cross-cultural event in which 20 Cuban chaplains and two Americans found themselves on holy ground. A year later, Gus and I met again with the chaplains. A translator overheard this comment and interpreted for us, “I’ve been doing it all wrong. I talked too much and never listened. I didn’t know how to pray because I didn’t listen long enough to understand their need.” This opportunity to cross the language and cultural barriers, and to connect in a deeply meaningful intersection of purpose was pure joy. The Cubans have a saying — the first time you visit, you are a tourist; the second time you are an acquaintance; the third time you are a friend. From the moment during the first trip when I saw the tears and laughter that accompanied the greeting of Don and Gael Wallace
and the team members who qualified as “friends,” I knew I wanted to return. On my second trip, our team observed God’s resurrection work in the ashes of a suffering country. We witnessed the work of a shepherd. Rev. Hector Mendez, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Havana, invited our team into the barrio homes of three of his parishoners, each an elderly woman existing on the fringe. We were welcomed into their humble homes and each of the frail, elderly widows showed a sparkle in their eyes. As the pastor talked softly by the side of one of the women who was in her late 80s, he told us she was previously a well-known singer in Havana. He coaxed her to sing to us. Slowly, her lips began to move and her breath tried to reach her voice. It was only a whisper, but she kept breathing into the desire to sing and we heard the words begin to rise on the melody of a hymn. Her song was offered up to us – the gift of a song. And we saw the love between a pastor, a shepherd, and one of his flock. Never could I have guessed the adventure God had in mind for me when I said, “Okay, Let’s go to Cuba!” Jan Barnes is a member of First Pres and a part of the Cuba Mission Team.
Cuba: Calling and Connection On Sunday, July 19, following each morning service, you are invited to a reception celebrating our partnership with the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Havana, and a special exhibit of 100 year old photos of Cuba. Our special guest is Dr. Myriam Alvarez, a psychologist for the “Friendly Phone” ministry for the last 20 years.
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By
Lindy Keffer
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perfect “job interview� it was not. As a young adult, I was volunteering with a college program that I wanted to work for. I was thrilled to be asked to go along on a ski trip as a driver. Unfortunately, I ended the day by unwittingly parking the 15-passenger van in a no-parking zone and getting it towed. It was not the impression I wanted to make. But my supervisor’s response left a big impression on me. Instead of being angry, asking for 6 | www.first-pres.org 7/15
reimbursement for the fine and writing me off, he laughed and offered grace. A few months later he hired me, and I worked for him for the next nine years. I can’t think of a better picture of how God reveals His direction for our lives. Often, His call to us is more about our relationship with Him than about the tasks we are to accomplish. The day the van was towed, I learned that if we’re doing meaningful work, we will fail at times. If our sense of value is wrapped up in our performance and perfection, we will be defeated and sidelined. If we can open our hearts and minds to God’s grace, we grow more aware of His purposes for us, and more able to live them out.
Purpose Grows as we Grow
Growing up, I found the idea of being called mysterious and hard to grasp. I was raised on a five-generation family farm, and my dad had known since before starting kindergarten what job God had for him for the rest of his life: farm. God didn’t give me my call the way He did my dad, and I didn’t know where to start looking for it. I’m now 38, and I have discovered that God reveals His purposes little by little, often in the moments when we least expect a revelation. Even in stories like my dad’s, God’s call isn’t one-dimensional and static. We grow, the world changes and God’s assignments for us grow. Our Heavenly Father knows best how to bring our gifts, abilities, passions and experience into perfect alignment with the needs of the world around us. It’s a good thing that God’s having a master plan for my life is not dependent on my understanding that plan in advance1! In college, I majored in English because I loved literature. I hated writing and figured I would suffer through the few required writing courses I needed to graduate. Much to my surprise, one professor pushed me harder than I had ever been pushed before in the
practice of writing. As a result that I left the university enjoying the craft. Writing is the one common thread in every job I’ve held in the 16 years since graduation, but I would never have guessed that when I chose my major. Further, I completed my English degree in the very early days of the Internet. At the time, no one had any idea how the Web would turn the publishing industry on its head. Besides creating hundreds — maybe thousands — of pages of online content through the years, I have discovered that I have a knack for understanding how readers interact with what they read on the Internet. Content strategy is a field that barely existed when I was being trained for a career, but God knew how to fit me for it anyway.
Calling is Not Just About My Job
For the past six years, life has been busier than I dreamed it could be, as my husband and I have had the joy of welcoming three children into our family. What I guessed in the pre-kid days, I now know concretely: God’s purposes for us are so much bigger than our careers. God made me for more than just writing and communication strategy. If I were to put my purpose into a few words, they would be God made me to discover and proclaim what is deeply true. I can do that with my writing, but perhaps the most meaningful place I get to do that is in the lives of my children. I never imagined the joy that would come from helping them to understand who God made them to be and how He wants to walk with them through all their lives. It’s such a relief to know that God’s purposes for us are not limited to what we get paid for. If that were the case, our callings could be stolen by age, illness or circumstance. But thanks be to God, His dreams for us are boundless, and we can spend our whole lives living into them! Lindy Keffer is the Manager of Ministry Giving at First Pres.
DeYoung, Kevin. Just Do Something. Moody, 2009.
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Called to Take a Step of Faith By Casey Keegan “ …And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
—Matthew 28:20
When I was applying to colleges during my senior year of high school in Ohio, I was still a relatively new believer. I had come to know and accept Christ through trips out west while studying His beautiful creation and getting into His word, so I felt a nudge to come back to where I’d first met Him. At the same time, I was very involved in a somewhat controlling megachurch, and was feeling a lot of peer pressure to stay in my hometown and go to college nearby.
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My parents — who aren’t believers — were adamant about me going away to a competitive college; meanwhile, everyone I knew in my church wanted me to stay. I felt like everyone was giving me advice based on his or her own agenda. One night after youth group, I remember crying in my car asking God to show me what to do. Even if the college decision sounds sort of trivial, a light bulb went on in my head that night — when I felt like there was no one I could turn to, there He was. A few days later, my discipler asked me to get coffee and talk with her about my upcoming decision. I prayed hard before this meeting, asking God for real guidance on the issue. For an hour, my discipler lectured me on the importance of staying in her (our) church. She used loose, out-of-context verses to support her argument, and refuted anything I said about how I felt. Finally I excused myself and began walking out to my car. A stranger ran out of the Starbucks right behind me. “Excuse me!” she said, and I turned around, figuring I’d dropped something. “I don’t usually do this, but I thought you should have this.” She handed me a folded index card. I stammered a confused “thank you,” and stepped into my car. I opened the index card. It read, “It’s easier to go away and decide to come back than to stay and forever wonder what if…. God will be with you everywhere you go!” Cue round two of crying in my car. This was the most direct answer to prayer I had yet to receive — from the hands of an eavesdropping stranger, no less — and to this day I keep the index card on my wall. So, based on the fact that you’re reading a publication from First Pres Colorado Springs, you already know what I decided to do. The last two years at Colorado College have been the most formative of my life, and certainly of my faith. The fiercely liberal and often anti-Christian atmosphere at CC has forced me to defend and solidify my new
faith, and part of that has been diving deeply into the field of apologetics. At first it was difficult to adjust to being so far from home, which forced me to rely completely on God and seek Him in prayer several Casey Keegan times a day, every day. Just a few blocks down the road, I now have a Christ-centered family in First Pres. I drive a few CC friends to church every Sunday morning. I lead a high school small group of wonderful young ladies who have taught me way more than I’ve taught them. I have found communities within the church that have allowed me to ask hard questions. I have several older mentors in the church, and my best friend at CC who has shown me what true fellowship means. Of course, part of my story has been coming to terms with the fact that the church that initially brought me to Christ is far from perfect — in fact, every body of believers is flawed because everybody is flawed. My former discipler has since apologized for the pressure she put on me, and has also left that church. Believe it or not, she lives in Colorado now too! My story of being called to Colorado is a story of drawing near to God and trusting Him in making tough decisions. I think of Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and He will make your paths straight.” It is also one of discerning what God wanted for me among a sea of voices, and one of knowing that “surely [He is] with [me] always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) God has called me here and has not let me down. In Colorado Springs I have grown in my faith, and I feel safe and deeply loved. Casey Keegan is part of the college ministry and a volunteer in High School Ministries at First Pres.
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By Dale McClure
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hen William Merrell Vories enrolled in Colorado College in 1900, his dream was to be an architect. But God would change all of that. The pastor at First Pres at that time was Edgar W. Work. He had originally come to Colorado Springs to find a more healthful climate for his son. Rev. Work was a scholar who loved books, learning and students. He collected degrees like some people collect stamps. Rev. Work reached out to the Colorado College students like no other previous pastor had done and his efforts saw success. Rev. Work started a Sunday school class for college students, a first for First Pres. In that class was William. Under Rev. Work’s tutelage, William sensed that God was calling him to do something other than design buildings. God was calling him to spread the Gospel to people who had not heard the story. There were other influences that helped William see God’s purpose for his life. One was his mother. She had wanted to be a missionary herself but was never able to make that ambition a reality. She prayed that God would use her son to fulfill that dream. Another influence was the YMCA. At that time the YMCA was much more than a good place to exercise; it was an organization that put great emphasis on personal evangelism and spiritual formation. The YMCA organized prayer meetings, Bible studies and brought in local pastors to speak on Sunday afternoons. The Y organized student activities on college campuses, too, and William
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was the secretary for the program at Colorado College. All of these events put evangelism on William’s agenda. In 1902, William attended the Fourth International Convention of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions in Toronto, Canada. That meeting confirmed God’s call. After graduation from Colorado College, William worked for the YMCA while waiting for an assignment from the Student Volunteer Movement. A year after his graduation, his application was accepted and he was sent to the Shinga Prefectural School of Commerce in Omi Hachiman, Japan as an English teacher. When he arrived at the remote station on a cold windy day in February of 1905, William felt very uneasy and alone. Nevertheless, he made this entry in his journal, “I believe God has sent me here and I will never move unless God makes me move.” He had found his purpose. William taught English at the school during the day. At night, in his home, he taught the Bible with the aid of a Japanese national. From 40 to 100 students would gather for each class. When the school found out about the Bible studies, they fired William. He wrote, “I was shocked as if my head had been hit with an iron bar.” That left him in a foreign country with no income. But God had already created the means whereby William could get all the money he needed to finance his mission work — a career in architecture. William had made friends with the local YMCA and they needed a new building.
William designed it, and that was the beginning of the W. M. Vories Architectural Office that was housed in a small room at the Y. Through his connections with the YMCA William received numerous commissions. Eventually the firm, which grew to employ 30 other architects and draftsmen, would design 1,600 homes, churches, hospitals, schools and other YMCA facilities. The architectural firm would bankroll his missionary work. The Bible studies in his home flourished and came to be known as the Omi Brotherhood. The church founded a tuberculosis sanatorium and William designed its building. Soon after that, a junior high school and the Omi Work-Study School for Girls were created. In 1935 an orphanage called the Obayashi Children’s House came to life as well as the Household Management Program for mothers. He launched a publishing house to distribute his religious and architectural writings. All of these programs and organizations were laced with the story of how Jesus came to bring salvation for all who would receive it.
Through his architectural work William met Makiko Hitotsuyanagi, a Japanese woman who had been educated in America. He found Makiko to be very attractive, but she was part of the Japanese nobility and never had a foreigner been allowed to marry someone of such high status. Being much aware that nothing was impossible with God, William asked for her hand and they became
lifelong partners in love and ministry. The 1919 wedding ceremony took place in a chapel that William had designed. After the ceremony, they moved into yet another building designed by William. This marriage of cultures allowed William to build relationships with some very influential people, even allowing him to present the Gospel to the Emperor of Japan. In 1920, Makiko opened a children’s playground at the Vories’ home. This led her to start a kindergarten and a day care center to help working mothers. Soon after that she created the Parental Training Program. William occasionally took furloughs back to America to see family and friends. On his church membership card in the Archives office it’s noted that whenever he was in the United States William would come back to visit First Pres. After World War II, there was much reconstruction work to be done in Japan and William rolled up his sleeves and did whatever he could. It was William who brokered the talks between General Douglas MacArthur and Japan’s Prime Minister and Emperor. He was also the person who convinced the Emperor to renounce all claims of divinity. In 1957, while working in Karuizawa, William suffered a stroke and was transported back to his home in Omi Hachiman for treatment. While bedridden for seven years he received many visitors, including the Crown Prince of Japan. The Japanese people that he had brought to Christ, and for whom he had done so much to improve their quality of life, bestowed many honors and awards on him. Colorado College granted William an honorary Doctor of Law degree and the city of Omi Hachiman even made him “Honorary Citizen Number 1.” In May of 1964 William Merrell Vories moved to a new home in heaven; one which he did not design. Dale McClure is the archivist for First Pres. 7/15 | www.first-pres.org | 11
address
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SER V I C E
RE Q U ES T ED
Weber Street Lawn
Early Evening
Sunday, August 16
KICK-OFF SUNDAY
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