The Curacao Connection

"I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Matthew 25:36
Recently a medical team led by Dr Mike Collins (pictured left, standing) and Dr Rich Montgomery ministered at the New Vision City of Refuge Clinic. Usually Dr Mike brings a medical student with him but this time he was unable to do so. God though, was prepared to fill in the gap in an unusual way. It just so happened that that very week we were hosting two other work teams, one led by missionary to Curacao, Rich Smallie, who brought a second year medical student with him. Jeffrey (pictured sitting) is studying in Curacao but is orignally from Cameroon. The team was able to minister to over 200 people in the community and even did a few housecalls. Jeffrey had no idea, and neither did we, that this opportunity would be available to him. Dr Mike and Dr Rich graciously shared their knowledge and expertise and Jeffrey benefited greatly from the experience.

On A Hill Too Far Away

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, The emblem of suff'ring and shame; And I love that old cross where the dearest and best For a world of lost sinners was slain. -George Bernard
Two thousand years ago on a hill called Calvary our Savior willingly died on a rough wooden cross. In his book, On a Hill Too Far Away, John Fischer presents the cross of Christ in all its trueness and begs the question, is the cross obsolete; is it simply a decoration on the wall of our churches or an ornament around our necks, or is it more?
John Fischer writes of a particular cross in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. It is 10 feet tall, made of rough, untreated wood and it is bolted to the floor inside the sanctuary right in front of the platform. This cross is no mere decoration, it is an obstruction. The pastor can't preach without acknowledging the cross and the congregation can't gather at the altar without accommodating the cross. It's big, it's ugly, it's rough and it's in the way.
But maybe that's the way it should be.
Have you ever heard someone complain about the cross they bear? Usually they are talking about a person; an obnoxious boss or an uncooperative spouse. After complaining a little about how awful their lives are, they roll their eyes, let out a sigh and exclaim, "I guess that is the cross I have to bear."
No, it isn't.
Christ didn't call us to pick up a person and follow him, he commanded us to pick up our cross and follow him. The cross is not a problem I bear, it is the place where I die. "Simply put," John Fischer says, "the cross does for us what it did for Christ. It kills us."
And if you haven't noticed, dying does not appear to be fun. In fact, it looks like it hurts. Especially if we are talking about death on a cross. And that is exactly what we are talking about.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by the faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). We must bow at the old rugged cross to find life, we must cling to the old rugged cross to nourish our life, and we must pick up our own rugged cross to make our life's journey with Christ.