Oikos

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your oikos." - Acts 16:31

There is no place like home. Today I set my watch back on Central Time for the first time since May 11, which felt real nice. Arriving at McAllen Miller Airport has never felt so good. I don’t know if I have ever been so happy to be home as I am right now.

This is not the first time I have been left home like this, nor is this the shortest I have ever been away, but this is the sweetest my return has ever been. As you know, I have spent the last week visiting my sister and her husband, Steve, in New Jersey. My family flew up to meet us, and we had an incredible reunion in the middle of the Philadelphia Airport. And if this wasn’t enough, the icing on the cake came when I saw my best friend standing in the airport. My family asked him to come with them, and of course did not tell me. Definitely a great surprise.

So, to answer your question: Yes. This summer has been absolutely incredible so far. I have been to various parts of India, Nepal, New York, Philadelphia, Delaware (by accident), and New Jersey. I have seen the Himalayas, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, where the Declaration of Independence was drafted, and Times Square. I have slept on a marble floor in Delhi, in a hostel with orphans, in a 19^th century British cottage in the mountains of Shimla, on a roof of a school, and on various other floors, couches, and beds. I have ridden in rickshaws, taxis, on the back of motorcycles, buses, and subways.

Taking into account all of this, I can say that this moment right now is the best. I am home, and there is no place like it. Not even close.

This past year God has taught me the incredible blessing of a home, of my home. Home is not the structure that is currently surrounding me as I type. No, home is my community. The Greek word used over and over for this in the New Testament for this idea is oikos. While I have been traveling from place to place, I have been longing to return to my oikos.

My oikos is my home. It is my community. The place where I find loved ones, friends and family. At this point in my life I am not called to India or New York. Yes, God has used those places to reveal himself more fully to me. But the immediate call of these revelations has lead me back to my oikos in order that he may use these experiences as a blessing to those in it.

Dr. Thom Wolf, the man I worked with in India, has an interesting concept called Oikos Evangelism. One of the reasons I spent a large part of my summer with him was a result of the impact this concept made on me as I read it several months before I ever met him. He says “Oikos Evangelism is God's natural means to spread the Good News, for everyone who has ever, or will ever receive Christ. And the key that opens every oikos is life transformation through the indwelling of the living God.”

People need community. I need community. And I believe God has placed me in my own specific oikos in order to glorify him and make him known. I don’t know where my oikos will be in the future, but I know where it is now.

This knowledge is what makes this return so sweet. I am returning to my oikos.

 

 

 

New Look

Well, tonight marks my one week anniversary being back in the US. This realization brings up some business that I feel obligated to discuss with you. 

This blog was created on May 12 with the intent of providing you, the reader, with updates throughout my stay in India. Now that the trip is over, I am faced with the question of whether I should keep this up. 

I want to relate this issue to a distant part of my personal life. I am reminded of a dating relationship I was in when I was in High School. Don't get me wrong, this was a great part of my life for a certain period of time, but there was a distinct time when it was clear things were no longer progressing. In fact, things were clearly regressing. I remember a particular moment when it would have been quick, easy, and relatively painless to end it and move on. However, this was not the path that was taken. Hindsight reveals this was the wrong decision. The relationship, at the time of the possible termination, had already seen its height. In this case, prolonging the inevitable had few advantages, but was actually quite unpleasant.

We are supposed to learn from our mistakes, right? Well, applied in this situation would mean I would recognized that this blog has served its original intended purpose and now it is time to move on. Well I have decided to make a small compromise with this philosophy. 

I am "moving on" from the "old blog" by merely changing the format and the title. That's fair, right? 

I can not tell you how much I have enjoyed blogging thus far, and so I see no logical reason to stop. I realize that when I address "you" I may be talking to myself, given that all my readers have lost interest by now. 

But if you are like me and tend to hang on, then I hope you enjoy the new look of the blog and the posts to come.

Hot Shower and a Bed

These are two luxuries I will enjoy tonight for the first time in over 5 weeks. I am laying on a couch in my sister and her husband's house in Westhampton, NJ. It is 1:30 in the morning here, but my biological clock is telling me it is 11 in the morning. Solution? Sleeping pills. 

But before I do that and crash I wanted to let you know that I am safe and sound in New Jersey. My family comes in town tomorrow and we will spend the next week here visiting. I couldn't think of a better way to return!

It was sad leaving Delhi yesterday, but I was incredibly excited to return. I couldn't help but laugh out of excitement when I stepped off the plane in Newark.

And in case you were curious (which I hope you were), I plan on maintaining this blog. It has been quite fun for me. If it has been fun for you as well, please plan on continuing to hear from me. Soon.

Goodnight.

Cathy from Continental

Very rarely do you meet someone who, in less than one hour, can break your heart only to restore it and place you on top of the world.

Cathy is one of those people. She is a saint.

Long story short, I am supposed to be an hour and a half into my flight home right now, but it has been delayed until tomorrow. I found out about the delay this afternoon, but also found out about a huge error I made in making the reservation. I mean huge! But after hours of being tossed around by different Continental representatives, providence brought Cathy and I together and life became good once again. 

I ask for your prayers, that my flight would not be delayed any more. In return for your prayers, I offer you some recent pictures.

-me and Dr. Thom

-SP Singh. The 2nd coolest Indian I've met.

-Shimla, India

DDD

Again, I have the luxury of living in the future. Last time I took advantage of this I honored my mother on her birthday, and now, less than two weeks later, I will do the same for my dad on Father's Day.

Let me start by saying there is no one like him. He is the most thoughtful, loving, sensitive, hard-working, and cheesy person I know.

You will hard-pressed to find someone with the same humor as my dad. I can’t decide if that is a good thing or bad thing. I will say this, he loves laughter. Spending time with him, you will quickly find that he also loves life. His overall countenance, attitude, and even humor (cheesy as it can be at times) always encourages others to do the same.

The one thing that I think defines him is his ability to give. I can’t think of a time when my dad put his own interest before the interest of those he loves and cares for. His is truly a life marked by service. If you were to take a quick glimpse at a typical week in his life, you will see over and over again selfless devotion to others.

From this devotion comes his ministry. I am convinced that my dad is not a CPA. I don’t think people go to him because he is a great accountant. I think the real reason he has such a successful practice is because he takes on the role of a counselor and friend. I can’t tell you how many stories I have heard of my dad coming home from work excited about the amazing things God has done that day. There is something about the idea about God’s presence at an accounting firm that seems a bit counterintuitive, but knowing that someone like my dad is involved, you know that the Spirit is invited on a daily basis.

He also spends the better part of his “free time” leading others into a deeper relationship with God through BSF and our church, or preparing and studying to do so. He has left an amazing impact on the community he is a part of. This impact has a direct relationship with his love for the Lord, and his willingness to have God work through him. When I return home, people often approach me and tell me what God has done in their life through my father.

In a world that is filled with stories of negligent fathers and broken households, I am incredibly blessed to have such a devoted and loving father. He is a wonderful confidant, and I trust him more than any person I know. I have never had a moment when I thought I did not have the support of my father. If there is someone who has always been available and ready to back me in any situation or circumstance, it is my him. He knows more about me than anybody in the entire world. I am jealous of his wisdom, but also incredibly thankful for it. He is the wise counsel I seek when I am in doubt. And I can rely on his advice because it is grounded in the word of God. As a father, he realizes his role in my life. He has done everything to point me to my Heavenly Father.

In the limited amount of years I have been alive, I am incredibly fortunate and thankful to be have been under the influence of such a wonderful man of God. I know God has used the unique and incredible relationship I have with my dad to mold me into the person I am. 

3 AM, Again

It is 3 AM, but this time I am about to go to sleep.

This week has been so good. I spent the better part of my week with a group of some of the most influential leaders of modern India. As you know from my previous blog, we ended up leaving around 4 AM for Shimla, India. It was only an eight-hour ride there, and ten on the way back. I think God uses Indian travel to strengthen my prayer life. The four hours it took to get up and down the 7,000-meter peak that Shimla rests on are among my most miserable moments here in India. Let’s just say the combination of winding, crowded roads, the constant sound of horns, and never knowing when our car may come to a screeching halt did not settle well with my stomach. Oh, and the seating arrangement didn’t help. The way there I was sandwiched between two full-size men. I guess we decided that we had too much room on the way, so another man joined us on the way back. How is this possible, you ask? Well, my friend Tyler and I literally sat on luggage for the whole ten-hour trip back to Delhi.

Despite that, this week is probably going to be the most memorable part of my stay in India. I saw God move powerfully in the hearts of men and women to bring about practical change in a corrupt system. Each one present was very familiar with the pain of being subject to the current system, and is determined not to reform it, but to replace it.

Much of the meetings were profound and challenging, but the concluding prayer was the most powerful moment of the entire week. It was through this prayer that a man called to Jesus as the source of change. Through the earnestness in his voice, one could feel the Holy Spirit engage every person present. Whether Christian, Atheist, Sikh, or skeptic  each was brought to tears. As a result of this prayer directed toward the true solution, every person, having blood-shot tearful eyes, embraced one another knowing they all desired the same thing.

As if this wasn’t enough, the reason I am going to bed so late tonight is because I have spent the last few hours talking and praying with Dr. Thom. It is incredible to hear more and more of his story. It is hard to remember what exactly is said in a conversation like that, but it is hard to forget the way you feel when you know you are discussing Truth with somebody else.

 

 

 

 

3 AM

It is 3Am and I am about to leave town. I wish that was some sort of metaphor, but it is the truth. I am going to a series meetings with Dr. Thom at a university 6 hours away. The meetings will take place for the next few days. 

From what I have gathered this should be a really good time. So, aside from being up and waiting to leave, I am very excited.

More to come soon, I'm sure.

Dr. Mujib

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6

Today was a great day. But before I tell you about it allow me to tell you something that has been happening to me in the past week and half or so. My going to the orphanage produced a subtle change in my Indian experience.

Leading up to the orphanage I had been observing India. That week, I quit observing. I started interacting with India.

Today I had three meaningful interactions and I will tell you briefly about one.

Dr. Mujib is a Muslim scholar who loves Dr. Thom and Americans. He has been a constant presence since I have been here. Him and I have a special bond though. He received his PhD from the University of Texas, and therefore loves Texans. He loves literature and he gave me one of his favorite books a few days ago to read so that we can discuss it.

Today I ran into him and he invited me to dinner. Dr. Mujib is a smart man, but can be a little difficult to have a conversation with. He likes to hear his own voice and welcomes questions but rarely asks any of his own. It is common practice for him to interrupt someone, introducing a completely new subject. I was a little surprised by his invitation, considering I had never had time alone with him. Needles to say, I was curious how this would turn out. 

In our conversation he asked what I thought of the Taj Mahal when I visited. I asked if he wanted to see a few pictures I had taken while I was there. When he reached the end of  the pictures I had taken of the Taj, he did not stop looking at the pictures. He continued through the pictures I had taken of India thus far, and began to gain a larger scope of my experience in India. When he reached the pictures of the slums I had visited, he stopped looking, and made eye contact with me. 

He allowed a nervous laugh asking, “So what do you think about your experience in India so far? Pretty poor, huh?” I knew from his tone that he was a bit ashamed of his country and its current situation. 

I thought for a brief moment about his question, realizing that this was his way of apologizing on behalf of India. I gave him a simple answer. I responded with a small smile and replied, “Dr. Mujib, you know I am a Christian. Because of this, I believe India needs Jesus.”

I expected an answer from him. After all, I was talking to Dr. Mujib. If nothing else, I thought certainly he would change the subject. Instead with a quizzical look, he maintained eye contact and silence. This felt a bit peculiar, but I decided to proceed, expanding shortly on my thought process.

I explained that I agreed with him, India is a poor country. But I said that poverty was not the only issue concerning India. Among the many “problems” facing India, whether social, economic, political, or spiritual the answer is Jesus. I noted that India places a large emphasis on religion, that everyone is seeking many gods, but that I had found the Most High God, and my prayer was for India to do the same.

For the first time in my month long relationship with Dr. Mujib, he allowed me to communicate a complete thought with his full attention and without interruption. And when I finished this last sentence, we sat for about 15 seconds in silence before conversation began again.

I walked away from the table thanking God because he not only gave me a message, but also a recipient. I learned that when it comes to my personal life, experiences, and opinions Dr. Mujib will consider them with little weight. However, when it comes to the message of Jesus Christ he listens.

 

 

A New Website

I hope you like the picture I put up of India Gate. It is a huge memorial in the middle of Delhi to all the Indians that fell in World War II. As you can see from the picture, its pretty massive and looks great.

We live in a culture that is never satisfied. I am fully aware of this and have chosen to accommodate this needy characteristic of human nature. You see, I have decided to not only share my experiences and thoughts on India through mere words but now through a visual medium.

I have put a very small sample of pictures I have taken since I have been here on flickr.com.

Check them out: http://flickr.com/photos/zackewing 

Let me know what you think. If you like them, I may just put more up. 

Ode to my Mom

Good Morning. It is 8:17 AM here in New Delhi and I just got up about 30 minutes ago. One of the advantages of being on this side of the world is that I am living in the future, meaning it is still June 2nd in Texas, but June 3rd here.

Why is this so important that I feel the need to write about it today, you ask? Well, if you don't already know then shame on you! Today is a wonderful day. It is on this day a few years ago (very few!) my dear mother was born.

So today I pause, and I am asking you to do the same, for a few moments to honor her in the glory she deserves, because she is completely worth it. My mother is easily the most important and most influential woman in my life. I called her last night and talked to her for quite some time and for the entire conversation I was smiling and laughing with her. Even thousands of miles away, she has the ability to make life good.

For those of you who have the pleasure of knowing her, what I am saying comes as no surprise to you. She has one of the most contagious personalities and radiates with such joy and enthusiasm for life that you can't help but be drawn to mirror her wonderful disposition. She is completely full of life, and has one of the youngest hearts of anyone I know. You can't help but feel good when she is around.

She is one of the most discerning, wise, and encouraging individuals around. Anytime I am feeling low, I dial her number. Again, when I need advice she is the one I talk to. Each time something exciting happens I call her because I know she has the perfect ability to share in another person's excitement and has mastered the complex art of being happy for others.

She is a motivator and a visionary. She works hard and selflessly for the Lord. Again, for those of you that know my mother, you know that she is not satisfied unless she is doing something for the Kingdom. For at least 21 years, her life has been characterized by service to God and others. She is proactive in seeking opportunities for other women to grow closer to the Lord. Not only that, but because of the characteristics mentioned before, along with countless others, the ministries God places her in have always displayed incredible effectiveness. God's favor surely rests on her!

When I think about returning from India, I think about being reunited with my family. They are home to me. They embody what is dear to me, and when I am near them I am satisfied. This is the mark of a wonderful mother: a wonderful family.

You may have gathered by now that I love my mom. I hope you enjoyed this extremely small and insufficient tribute to her. Believe me, it does not do her justice.

Strong Farm

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake… my cup overflows. – Psalm 23

 

I will sleep well tonight. I have spent the last 6 days at Strong Farm, the orphanage I told you about in my last post. In short, this was an amazing experience.

 

That is, aside from actually getting there and coming back. Traveling in India is quite the experience. A typical bus ride to Khatima, the nearest bus stop to the orphanage, from Delhi is about 8 hours. The bus is supposed to leave around 10 PM and arrive around 6 AM. However, my ride was anything but typical. First of all, it was 15 hours long. The bus I took is called a sleeper bus, which means above all the seats are some makeshift bed-like things that are somewhat comfortable. They are close to the size of a twin bed, except contrary to popular practice the bus company prefers that two people share the one space. I decided to bite the bullet and pay for a double sleeper. I know, luxurious.

 

So the bus ride was terribly long and hot (no air conditioning). There were two fights on the bus and a man tried to convince me to share my sleeper with him. It was hard to resist, but I said no.

 

Believe it or not, the bus ride back to Delhi was even better. Although this bus ride was 7 hours shorter than the previous, it was slightly less comfortable. This time I did not have the luxury of a sleeper. But I did have a window seat, which means that I was able to soak in all the wonderful aromas and smells of the streets of India. Any preconceived notion I had of what a “bad smell” consisted of was dramatically called into question and redefined last night. I don’t know how to explain it, except that my eyes were often filled with tears (not of joy) and I had to hold my breath at points so I would not throw up. Oh, and I made a new friend. He sat next to me and used my shoulder as a pillow for about 6 hours of the trip.

 

Pretty miserable huh? Well, maybe… except that it was completely worth it to spend those days at the orphanage. The last week is sure to stand as one of the major highlights of my time here in India. It was the perfect retreat.

 

Upon my arrival, I was greeted by the boys swimming in a pool. To my knowledge, swimming pools didn’t exist in India. I have never been so glad to be wrong. I stayed in the hostel with the boys. I woke up at 6:30 for breakfast and would then work the farm with them. I actually drove a tractor while I was there, pretty ridiculous. I climbed trees with the boys to pick their favorite fruit, lichis and closed out every day playing cricket with them. Oh yeah, I went hiking through the Jungle, visited Nepal, and went on a motorcycle ride through the Himalayas.

 

This was an amazing week! The children at this orphanage were absolutely phenomenal. I was so thankful that I was able to go by myself and be completely immersed into life with them for almost a week so that I was actually able to get to know them. Truth be told, six days was not enough.

 

I am so thankful God opened this door. He is surely at work in this place. The orphanage comes from an extremely grim situation from just a few years ago, and God’s restoration is at work in this place. I look forward to sharing more with you soon, but for now I am going to bed. I have been looking forward to this all day.