A sower went out to sow his seed.…
–Luke 8:5
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
–John 12:24
One sultry night this summer past, we all gathered, first at the house in Colonia Maradiaga, then at the graveside near La Curva. In the twilight beneath a gibbous moon, as tattered storm clouds raced from east to west overhead, the shared grief of the community walking the packed dirt paths below was a palpable thing. Don Rey died too soon and too suddenly, taken unexpectedly in his 61st year, dying within days of the onset of virulent dengue fever. Dying at that stage in life, part of the pathos and the shock of such a passing is predicated by all of the people left behind who were depending upon him.
Don Rey was our night watchman at the school. So I remember him mostly from occasions when I would have to check on something there in the dark of night. It seems like every time I would forget that anyone was supposed to be there…until his voice came calling from some unexpected corner, “Hola doctor, ¿todo bien?” I think he secretly liked seeing me trying to find the skin I’d just jumped out of, but he was too kind to point it out. As I worked on getting my heart rate back under control, I would greet him back and we would have a little chat in the dark about whatever after-hours errand I was on.
So, I will remember Don Rey as a friendly voice in the dark. To his church and to his community, he was a pillar, a friend and neighbor, a stand-up dependable guy, in a place where stand-up dependable guys are far too rare.
But to his wife, his children, and his grandchildren, he was the anchor, the rock, the one they could always depend upon to provide and protect, to fix what broke, to be doing things for them, and to be there for them. The rising sun awakens the rest of the world. For Don Rey, the nightwatchman, it marked the end of his shift, but not of his vigil. He rode his moto home from work to pick up his wife, Maria, the school’s custodian, to take her to work, then returned home to bring the grandchildren to school. He slept a couple of hours, then prepared and brought a hot meal to the grandchildren… Every day… Maybe then he might sleep another couple of hours before rousing to return to school for the kids, then return again to pick up Maria. Now, suddenly, he was gone.
Upon his death so unanticipated, the raw grief of his wife, and of his children and grandchildren, was a hurricane shaking the hardest of hearts. As his body was lowered into the grave in the dark, you had to wonder who would do all of these things and who would be there for them now? And still…I thought of the good seed Rey had sown in the time that he had, and prayed that some of it would take root in this hard red clay.
Today is the 30th of November, my father’s birthday. It has been 18 days since my Dad passed on. If he had lived until today he would have turned 94. I wonder if they keep track of such things in heaven. Anyone living so long on this earth has passed through a lot of stages, my father more than most.
When I was a child, as a US Marine, he was gone a lot. When I was older–in training, in the Navy, and as a missionary– I was gone a lot.
So I remember my Dad and miss him in snapshots and stages: the strong, strict and idealistic young Marine officer not that long back from Korea father, the high school teacher father, the grad student father, the botany and zoology professor father, then the older Force Recon Marine returning from Vietnam broken and disabled father, the recovering born again Bible-teacher father, the history-writer father, the slowly aging father, endlessly starting projects and stories he could no longer finish.
Evidenced by how many and varied were the stories shared at his memorial services, in all of these stages, he sowed seeds. Knowing it or not, for better or worse, we all do I suppose. In my father’s life, in most of those stages, it was very good seed which springs up in all kinds of unexpected ways and places and people.
Strangely, the father that I miss today, on his birthday, is the most recent one, my helpless father. After a cardiac arrest and resuscitation in mid-summer, followed by a series of hospitalizations, my Force Recon Marine force-of-nature father became quite helpless, no longer able to get out of bed or feed himself. But helpless or not he just refused to quit on life. So this past four months he staged a fighting retreat with a series of setbacks, a series of death struggles, followed by a series of unexpected last minute comebacks. In the weeks of sitting by his bedside each day, I think we spent more time just being there together than probably at any time in my life.
As he struggled to breath, or cried out in pain, or slept, or talked in his sleep, or woke up unexpectedly to acknowledge someone in the room, then fall back asleep, in his helplessness he was patient and kind to each person caring for him. He learned and remembered every caretaker’s name. They all loved him and thought he was the sweetest guy. I agreed with them (and never let on about some of the earlier stages). He didn’t fear death, but still fought for life. He just had no quit in him. In the end he had nothing left but an abiding love for his Lord, his family, and friends.
Then one morning, he awoke somewhere else.
Tomorrow is the beginning of December. In most of North America it is a time of bare trees waiting wordlessly through short gray days and long frigid nights. In Honduras it is the season of winter storms, cool nights and muddy roads. In Palestine it is the season of the rains, bringing new growth to the bare hills of the wilderness east of Bethlehem. There shepherds watch their flocks by night as the sheep have grazed too far to bring back to the fold. In that country, steeped in the blood of five thousand years of conflict, the Prince of Peace was born. A living paradox, a king born in a stable, the Sower who became the seed, God Almighty born a helpless human baby, born to die so that others could live. The world has yet to come to terms with the paradox. No matter how hard it tries, the world cannot forget him. The seeds he sowed are just unstoppable. His is the only empty grave and the only one which will never go unvisited.
In the promise of the new year, I hope to be more mindful of the seeds I sow, as, intentional or not, we all sow seeds at every stage of our lives, up until the final moment of God’s appointed hour. And, in this life, it is the seeds we have sown along the way which live on after our bodies have failed and fallen and gone to ground.
God's grace,
Jefferson McKenney, M.D.
In this newsletter we have two more stories from missionaries (both are teachers at El Camino), whose stories also reminded me of planting seeds. –Sally
from Teacher Cora Bradley
'A Perfect Failure'
Sometimes, as teachers, things don’t go as planned. That’s exactly what was happening at small group that day. Small groups are a weekly routine for our middle and high schoolers at El Camino Bilingual School. They are a great way for the students to reflect on chapels from the past week and apply what they have learned to their lives; however, this specific day, students were fidgeting, faces appeared glazed over, and eyelids were drooping. It was discouraging, but I had learned enough times already that some days were just harder than others. In a last-ditch effort to elicit a reflection from the kids about pride in their lives, I quickly shared a personal example of how I saw pride in my own life when I was their age. Then, I took prayer requests, had one of the kids pray, and said good-bye to them for the weekend.
Teaching can get busy–the lessons, the students, the grading–and it’s easy to forget to step back and look at the progress, especially when the results take time. I am constantly reminding myself that even though I may not see or hear every detail, God is working in the students at El Camino to create future leaders of Honduras.
A week after what seemed like a failed attempt at small group, a student came and found me in the middle of a practice for our end of the year show. She thanked me for sharing during small group and told me that it had exposed pride in her own life, causing her to turn her eyes to God and praise Him when she felt prideful. Although I had not seen the growth that very day, God revealed to me how He was stirring in their hearts even when I didn’t realize it. This small example, along with so many others that have come up in my classroom, reminds me that God is always working in us, we just might not always realize it, especially when it takes time. Growing fruit is a process, but with the right conditions, and at the right time, when the tree finally bears fruit, it is sweet and good to eat. Growth may take time, but seeing the outcomes makes it worthwhile!
from Teacher Jessica Hubbard
'Just In Case You Ever Wonder'
The title stuck out to me as I flipped through the books in my dusty classroom library. “Max Lucado…his stuff is usually good.” I had penciled in “R.A.” on the Reading block section in my lesson plan but had yet to select the perfect Read Aloud for my first day of school. I flipped through the sweet illustrations and noted the deeper, spiritual connection. This will do!
Later that day, I picked up my precious third graders from lunch, settled into my turquoise teacher chair, and invited my class to join me on the carpet. I read to them about the love of a father as he raises his child. “Most of all, I’ll be here to teach you about God,” the father tells the daughter. “And God wants me to make sure you know about heaven…It’s going to be wonderful…We will be there together, forever.”
I looked around the room. “Can anyone tell me; how do you get to heaven?” Every hand shot up.
“Amber?” “I can go to heaven if I never tell a lie and be really good.” “Well, no, the Bible says that no one is good, not even one!
Cristian?” “If I do my best in school and work hard to get good notas (grades).” “Ummm, nope, not quite.
Nathalie?” “I can go to heaven if I give to the poor people.” “Well, that is a very kind thing to do, but doing all those good things will not get you into heaven.
In fact, even if you were perfect your whole life and only did one bad thing, you would still not be good enough to go to heaven. The fact is, boys and girls, none of us can get to heaven by ourselves, no matter how hard we try.”
With baffled expressions my students murmured amongst each other. I proceeded to explain in Spanish, “God’s word says that ALL of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The only way we can get into heaven is to believe in God’s son, Jesus!
Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6). The Bible also says in Romans 10:9 that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. Heads nodded. Seeds were planted.
Oh, these precious, wide-eyed faces; seeking hard to understand and soaking in every word I say. What a weighty privilege I have been given: to nurture, influence, and disciple these souls. As a missionary teacher I am here to answer questions like these and to challenge my students to wonder and grow. I am here to carry out the Great Commission by “making disciples of every nation” (Matthew28:19), starting with my own third graders. At El Camino, our mission is to raise every student with a strong foundation in Biblical worldview.
“Third Grade World Changers”; I pray that my classroom name would be prophetic. I pray that the future Christian leaders being formed in aula #16 and in every classroom at our school will make an eternal impact on this beautiful yet suffering country and wherever God sends them. And I will continually remind my kids that God loves them so incredibly much, just in case they ever wonder.
News and Needs
1 – Prayer for Shipping: The Honduran background registrations and certifications process which would allow us to ship a container into Honduras… is getting close to the wire. We have a shipping container of vital equipment and materials packed FULL and waiting at the Cornerstone Property… and it’s been there since July. If this year’s registrations and certification process does not get completely through this very problematic Honduran administration,… the container shipped, into the country, and released to Loma de Luz before the end of the year,… we would have to start all over again. Please pray this container through–all the way to Loma de Luz.
2 – Twins: Nidian and Enil, who both work in Loma de Luz administrative offices, and their son, Adonis Eduardo, welcomed twin-girls into their family recently. After a very fast, unplanned homebirth, the 35-week preemies were brought to the hospital to be stabilized and observed until they were growing well enough to go home. We praise God for these new lives and rejoice with this family!
3 – The McKenzies: The McKenzies continue to be an ongoing life lesson about God’s faithfulness in hard times. Just a couple of weeks ago, Kelsey received an R-1 Visa, allowing him to finally be paid something by the local church he has been called to pastor. Although he still has to undergo peritoneal dialysis daily, he is finally on the donor wait-list for a cadaver kidney transplant. Jennifer did very well in recent classes at the Univ. of New Orleans. The kids are doing great. And, most remarkably, one of you… that is, a special soul who served as a volunteer/missionary at Loma de Luz in the past… who heard of Kelsey’s need through this newsletter… has volunteered to donate one of her kidneys. I think we all can agree that as a Christ-like, sacrificial offer to a stranger… It is pretty hard to match that. Amazingly, she is not the only one of you who offered. She is the only one who offered and qualified. The results of the compatibility testing are still pending. Please keep this in prayer.
4 – The McKenneys: The McKenneys are in Honduras until early Spring, but if your church, cell group, civic group, etc. would like to have Dr. McKenney come to speak about the work, let us know, as we are beginning to put together that schedule for March-May.
5 – Help Wanted—Medical: We are in need of one full-time (or at least 6 months on, 6 months off) fully trained missionary doctor, Family Practice with OB preferable, and experienced optimal.
6 – Help Wanted—Teaching: We are also in need of a junior high and high school math teacher for the spring semester (starting January 2025). Spanish is not a requirement; teaching is to be done in English. Teacher training is not absolutely required either; we’d be glad to have a math person willing to chip in for a semester.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15). This poignant verse is tied in my mind to the almost incomprehensible image of God tenderly burying Moses at his death and of God’s promise to be beside every sparrow when it falls. I think it means He sees our lives as valuable beyond price– both in our earthly journey and in the moment of our passing from this world. And precious too are the ripple effects each life generates, the seeds each life leaves behind.
–Sally Mahoney for the Cornerstone Foundation
From the Loma de Luz Community,
Merry Christmas and Blessings in the New Year!
Annual Loma de Luz photo scheduled for 4:00 PM …by 4:20 PM a pretty good photo. Then our last two, too late for the party, arrived @ 4:30 PM … can you tell who?