Go Beyond

Dubai en route to Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sunday was a great day at Kingsland as we celebrated how God used seven student mission teams to bless others from Houston’s inner city neighborhoods to the slums of Kolkata. Our student ministry pastors do an outstanding job of preparing our students to serve others around the world. This past month more than three-hundred and fifty Kingsland students and sponsors ventured out to connect with the homeless, the hurting, and those hungering for meaning in life. God did some wonderful things through our students. Our team members made a difference and returned home different – changed for the better as a result of having served others.

At the conclusion of each service, Pastor Alex challenged us to do more than give our students a courtesy handclap. He challenged us to follow their example by participating in a Sunday evening prayer walk. His challenge was simple. First, start at your own front door and pray for those nearest and dearest to you. Second, step out of your front door and pray for your neighbors. Walk the sidewalks of your neighborhood and pray for each home along your path. Prayer-walking is simply defined as praying on-site with insight. Walking slowly helps us to notice the things we easily overlook in our day to day haste. And, the things we see can give us clues or insight into how to pray for each home. Finally, Pastor Alex challenged us to conclude our prayer walk by praying for the nations.

We must become more intentional about praying for those who are nearest and dearest to us, our neighbors, and the nations. Dino Rizzo coined a phrase I like – “peripheral compassion.” In his book entitled “Servolution: Starting a Church Revolution through Serving,” Rizzo defines peripheral compassion as “the capacity to reach out and envelop the multitudes while noticing the tiniest need.” Peripheral compassion “is one of my favorite qualities I see in Jesus,” writes Rizzo, “and one I have always wanted to emulate.” Like Rizzo, we should all strive to emulate this quality. We need to intentionally work on sharpening our peripheral vision because unless we first see what’s there we will never be moved to respond compassionately. And, in order to see what’s there we must walk slowly among the people. When it comes to noticing what’s going on in the lives of those around us, haste indeed makes waste. So, we need to slow down and see things in focus.

Mark recorded an account of a miracle that Jesus performed in two stages (Mark 8:22-26). A blind man was brought to Jesus at Bethsaida. Jesus took the man aside, spit on his eyes and laid hands on him, and then asked him if he could see anything. The man replied that he could see men, but they looked like trees walking about — an indication that his sight was blurry. Jesus laid His hands on the man’s eyes a second time and, as a result, the man could see everything clearly. Jesus could have healed the blind man with one touch but chose to touch the man a second time. Perhaps He did so to remind us that insight often comes slowly. Most of us move through life so fast that the people around us look like trees walking about. That’s why we should slow down and ask Jesus to touch our eyes a second time. Only then will we see others clearly, gain greater insight, and sharpen our peripheral compassion.

My friend Gil and I will arrive in Dhaka tomorrow morning. We will meet with several of my good friends – all nationals who care deeply about their people. After our meetings in Dhaka, we will head for the villages and walk slowly among the people. I love the people of Bangladesh and I always enjoy walking slowly among the people in the villages. My prayer is that God will reveal specific needs that we can address through prayer and compassionate acts of kindness. And, I pray that each of us will accept Pastor Alex’s challenge to live with greater awareness about what is happening in our homes, our neighborhoods, and our world and then respond intentionally and compassionately as Jesus would. Gil and I are determined to do just that over the coming days in Bangladesh.