‘HIDDEN AND COVERED’
‘Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?’ (Leonard Ravenhill)
‘Hide me now, under Your wings. Cover me, within your mighty hand’.
The secret of his presence became my hiding place as I faced, what seemed an impossible task. Dr. Beni Paul, (Emanuel Hospice) was in urgent need of a specific medication unavailable in Romania. Ampules of Hyoscine (butilscopulamine) for terminally ill patients nearing the end of their earthly journey and unable to swallow. I compared my faith to a fine thread and my thread was knotting, enquiry after enquiry formed knots I could not untangle, threads without a beginning or end. ‘I will go before thee and unwind the snares’ (Isa 45: 2) ‘Have I no power to deliver?’Isa 50: 2. Andrew Murray says: ‘It is one of the terrible marks of the diseased state of the Christian life in these days that there are so many that rest content without the distinct experience of answered prayer’. A few days later, I proved the immense power of prayer coming to a realisation that this knowledge of trust would change my thinking. Instead of struggling I would leave all quietly with the one who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can imagine. The following Sunday, whilst sharing our Power Point in Millisle Baptist Church I knew I had to share this need. Standing in the foyer at the end of the service a young lady introduced herself, followed by a question: ‘I am a private GP; now tell me, what do you need?’. ‘Find rest my soul, in Christ Alone, know his power in quietness and trust’. His eternal purpose reigns. The Ampules have arrived in Romania. The Lord knew what I needed to restore a balance when I did not.
We all have goals in life, things we MUST do? Places we MUST go? Yet as I read the words of Leonard Ravenhill my thoughts turn to those who have felt the weight of the cruel stones of a life spent in stark poverty, cold, hungry, chained in a prison of failure yet still daring to hope. Their peering and suspicious eyes speak of loneliness and longing, locked in a prison of their own making. I look around my own comfortable home and question where do my values lie; what are my values? Am I willing to lose what I class as important? Or am I willing to love people regarded as unimportant, without value? Luke 10: 39 tells me Mary’s priority was time with Jesus. What is my priority? Where shall I work today?
The corridor of time waits for no man and the doors of usefulness for many are ending. The steps of Sister Lucretia (stomach cancer with complications) will soon touch the ‘HALT’ sign. Her condition has altered and her time is limited. Living alone, her pain is difficult to manage during these final days and although she is a child of God, she is surrounded by fearful thoughts of dying alone. Sister Ecaterina celebrated her 80th birthday on 7th November and is waiting for my visit. Please pray it will be a special visit, a lovely lady who was raised in the orthodox faith is now wanting to know more about the Lord. Pray she will put her trust in the Lord.
Damian (15) whom I visited recently, has had further brain surgery; only part of the tumour has been removed. Damian is unable to talk, move or recognise his mother. This reaction is halting the required radiation treatment scheduled after surgery. Please pray for grace to see the parents through these days as they watch by the bedside of their beloved son whose wish was to be baptised before he goes to be with Jesus. A little child shall lead them.
Natan (13) suffering from advanced cancer, was discharged from Cluj hospital as doctors were unable to continue treatment. Natan died (peacefully) surrounded by his loving family. His parents are devastated by the loss of their darling son.
A baby girl of two months will never sit on her Daddy’s knee; a young man who only weeks in the care of Emanuel Hospice died yesterday.
I think of Simona looking into the empty cot where baby Alexandra once lay; also a grandmother overwhelmed with grief at the loss of little Stefan; the sad eyes of the children whose only gift (if they could choose) would be to see their mummy or daddy again. A quiet whisper from the children’s oncology ward that they themselves would be well again and home for Christmas. So many lost childhoods, so many trampled lives. Pray as I visit the bereaved families and children that my personal contact will show the love of Christ that as I share the words of Jesus when he said ‘My peace I give to you’ they will know that although I can never replace what they have lost, I can show them they are loved and remembered. Fulfil A Wish, a new initiative for a terminally ill patient, can give one moment they will remember for a lifetime and in most cases a short lifetime. But most of all that they will come to know the one who can bring fulfilment.
Not just my toys have gone, where is my Mummy and Daddy? Abandoned babies, orphans for whom the years have claimed all they ever had or hoped for. Days turn to weeks, weeks to months and months to years, the sadness of their forgotten life remains. The little tears they cry would fill a river. Their childhood has never known the calmness of a mother’s arms, and yet there is a harvest of joy as I see the progress of disabled children, down syndrome children who are lovingly taught by Dora. The team of Casa Grace are another harvest as I see their love and compassion with a quiet eye, watching with love followed by action.
Christmas is a busy time for the team of Casa Grace as they prepare Christmas Food Parcels for the many families on our Feeding Programme. Specially chosen items are personally delivered to each home, followed by the legal documents required for families nearing the end of the two-year programme, who are being replaced by new families on our waiting list. The team work tirelessly preparing beautifully crafted Christmas Cards, Christmas Tree Globes, Baubles, with the Vocational Training Room providing special Christmas items sown with love. Christmas is a time to remember, to love, to give even the smallest gift to the pauper, the homeless, who were also once a child with a future.
Geanina only fifteen and pregnant, without knowledge when the baby will be born. Geanina left home and school at the age of thirteen; both decisions were made without parental consent. She began living in the home of a boy (17) where his father, mother, sister, brother in law and two children also lived. The parents disowned their daughter. Now she is facing a pregnancy with no income or support of any kind. Sister Gabi (Iochebed) will take Geanina to an Obstetrician and will carefully monitor the situation during the next months. Clothing, food, medication will be provided for the baby for the first year. Pray for this young girl who as a minor will not be permitted to take her baby from hospital without the signature of an adult. Pray for guidance and wisdom in the many decisions they as a young teenage couple will have to make.
The gift of time is precious, but for fifty adult orphans living in the forest area of Cighid their time, their lives, have been submerged in the darkness of pain-filled years. Memories they prefer to forget as they walk beneath the bare boughs of winter. They love to surprise you and often find little treasures to say ‘thank you’. Mine was a simple daisy, carefully chosen from the grass beneath their feet. Dr. Jowett wrote: ‘God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.’ As we share time together at our Christmas Carol Service on 13thDecember, may the Gift of the Babe of Bethlehem be a priceless gift to these precious people whom I have grown to love. Thank you to everyone who has sent a Christmas gift to my friends in Cighid; but more importantly ‘thank you’ for being a comforter.
Hamilton and Shirley Moore are two ordinary people with a burning heart of mission to: ‘GO AND TELL’. We have grasped the awareness of the call with final days of preparation underway. Pray for the ministry outreach; the reality of broken relationships; reconciliation; the suffering, the dying, the hungry, my children. We leave in a few days after a short time at home, going forward with a purpose.
Regular ‘blogs’ will be sent outlining the busy schedule of the duo. Hamilton in the Masters and Undergraduate programmes; School of Practical Theology; Radio Voice of the Gospel; Village Churches. The desire of my own heart as I reach out and touch those who matter to me within the three foundations, I am privileged to be part off.
‘The work of God is done on God’s timetable. His answers to our prayers come always in time—his time. His thoughts are far higher than ours, his wisdom past understanding.’
(Elisabeth Elliot)
Shirley, 25 November, 2019