Three Principles to Guide Us 

One of the challenges of work, positions or ministry roles is that they can easily become our identity, defining us and our lives. To prevent this, we should hold on to three key principles: 

1. It’s Not About Us – What we are involved in is ‘Missio Dei’ – God’s mission, not our own. Every job, role, position and opportunity are part of his mission. We are merely stewards of these responsibilities; they do not belong to us. It’s about God and his Kingdom, not about our roles or titles. 
2. It’s Given to Us for a Season – The Kingdom of God extends far beyond organisations, positions and roles. These are simply platforms or opportunities entrusted to us for a particular season. 
3. We are Expected to be ‘F.A.T.’ – We are called to be ‘Faithful, Available and Teachable’. At the same time, we need to be ‘Flexible, Agile and Transformable’, holding our roles and positions loosely. 

Chris Wright reminds us in his book on missions: “It is not about what I can do for God, but how I can be part of what God is doing in his world.”

Three Perspectives to Hold on to 

1. We are Just One Link in the Chain – We are part of a continuum, connected to those who came before us and those who will follow. Our role is to faithfully receive what has been handed down and pass it forward. 
2. None of Us are Indispensable – While we are uniquely chosen by God, his Kingdom does not depend on any one individual. Our responsibility is to be faithful in our appointed time. We are neither messiahs nor martyrs, so we should avoid falling into the “Messiah/Martyr syndrome” by clinging too tightly to roles. 
3. We Must Prepare to Exit from Day One – Realistically, we should begin preparing for our departure the moment we step into a role. This means identifying and nurturing potential successors. 

In ‘The Last Battle’, the final book of The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis closes with this thought: “All their life in this world and all their adventures had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” This reminds us to take a long-term perspective on life and leadership transitions. 

Three Practices to Consider

If these are the principles and perspectives, how should we function in our roles? Beyond simply getting things done, here are three key practices for transitioning well when the time comes: 

1. Plan Succession Early – Do not wait until the last minute or the final year. Always be on the lookout for individuals who can be developed for the role. 
2. Define the Required Qualities – Be clear on the skills, experience and character traits needed for the role. That way, when the time comes, you have already laid the groundwork for a smooth transition. 
3. Create Opportunities to Mentor and Take Risks – Invest in potential successors by delegating responsibilities under supervision as early as possible. Be willing to take risks in leadership development. 

Peter Drucker, the well-known leadership coach, once said: “People who do not take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.” 

This highlights the importance of taking calculated risks in leadership. Just as God took a risk on us, we must do the same for others. 

A 2021 McKinsey article¹ views succession planning as leadership development, emphasising the need for organisations to become “leadership factories” that cultivate individuals to develop these key characteristics:

• Positive Energy & Personal Balance – Developing and protecting the mind, body and spirit. 
• Servant Leadership – Focusing on making the team and others successful. 
• Continuous Learning & Humility – Leaders should not fear taking risks. 
• Grit & Resilience – Remaining steadfast in the face of disruption. 
• Levity – Using humour appropriately, even in serious situations. 
• Stewardship – Seeing oneself as a temporary custodian of an organisation or team. 

The Importance of Preparation

As you go through transition seasons, three preparations are important.

1. Prepare Yourself – Our hearts can be deceptive. Power, positions and roles can define us and become our source of identity and security. Guard your heart and be prepared to let go when the time comes. 
2. Prepare Those Around You – Listen to your team, though you may not always follow their suggestions. Teams often resist transitions because they value stability. However, your responsibility is to be faithful to your calling, even when it requires stepping away. 
3. Prepare Your Successor – If you have identified the next leader, equip them well. Establish open, transparent and effective processes for a seamless handover. 

David Lancefield² identifies four common traps leaders fall into during transitions:

• The Lingering Trap – Struggling to step away. A helpful reminder: “Give up and come in – Give up and go on.” 
• The Adrenaline Trap – Seeking validation through constant activity and success. An advice to remember: “Transition slowly, take time to reflect, and settle into the role well.” 
• The Judgment Trap – Relying too much on past experiences rather than adapting. A Guidance: “Manage change with continuity – Do not hover over or hold on to the past.” 
• The Dogma Trap – Imposing rigid structures that may not fit a new context. An Encouragement: “Keep learning and growing.” 

Do not transition out of restlessness but in the “Fullness of Time” – not because you seek change, but because it is time to move forward. After moving on, live with “Attached Detachment” – stay committed to the vision but detached from the role itself. Guard against “separation anxiety” that can affect your personal journey. 

To live this way, consider Jesus, who modelled it perfectly. Pray, seek wisdom, and draw strength from God and your community of friends and family. 

1. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/the-art-of-21st-century-leadership-from-succession-planning-to-building-a-leadership-factory
2. https://hbr.org/2024/09/4-traps-to-avoid-as-you-transition-into-a-leadership-role

As one looks around and engages with people, one can see unhealthy preoccupations and callousness around health.

Physical Health

The first issue is an unhealthy preoccupation with physical health. The body is the temple of the spirit and should be taken care of. A healthy diet, reasonable exercise, and healthy habits are important, but there is a culture of preoccupation with the body as the center of life. This is evidenced by the increasing number of executive full-body checkups and full-body scans that people undergo on a regular basis, as well as a preoccupation with any minor changes that laboratory tests reveal. The average person may not realize that there is a huge industry that wants them as their trusted client.

There is also the health and nutritional supplement industry that promotes every new fad in town as the answer to all your health problems. Not to mention the increasing sales of the cosmetic industry and cosmetic medicine too. All of these contribute to an addictive preoccupation with physical health, to the extent that the body becomes an idol that one worships, and keeping the body healthy becomes the preoccupation around which their lives revolve. We should not forget that God is God, and our bodies are a temple of God that cannot replace God. Let us build our bodies to be that temple.

Emotional Health

The second preoccupation is with emotional health. Post-COVID, there is an epidemic of mental health challenges, and this needs to be understood. Many people are struggling with mental health issues, and it should not be taken lightly. Needed care and support should be provided.

At the same time, we should recognize that there is a bigger cultural change happening around us. Carl R. Trueman, in his excellent book “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self,” writes that the world and culture have moved from the era of idiotic man, political man, religious man, economic man, and now psychological man (and woman). In such a culture, emotions are the center of life. What we feel is who we believe we are. This is something one should be aware of. Our feelings are not who we are. Our identity and who we are go beyond what we feel, and being preoccupied with our feelings is unhealthy. We need to guard our hearts, which are the wellspring of life.

There is also a callous carelessness with which we engage our minds. We need to reflect on the health of our minds. We allow social media, Netflix, AI chat bots, and other information systems to influence our minds. Instead of engaging the mind with intellectually stimulating and life-building information and options, we fill the mind with garbage and junk.

False truths and manipulated information that the media puts out are what many people are occupied with. Garbage in, garbage out is true these days. The output from the average person becomes shallow and not intellectually sound or life-building. Our minds are meant to be transformed and renewed. For such transformation and renewal, we need to engage our minds with what is true, right, pure, and life-giving.

Relational Health

There is also callousness with which we consider community and our relational health. The community is primarily online and virtual in many circles. Even if it is otherwise, it is more about what I can get out of the community than how I can be a channel to build and encourage others.

As Foster says, ‘Superficiality is the curse of our age,’ and this is true for relationships too. We enjoy community and relationships but with boundaries that we set for ourselves. Vulnerability and openness are not part of our communities. We share only what we want to and keep those areas closed that might show us as weak. A true community is one of foot-washers, where we are willing to expose our dirty feet and allow them to be washed by each other. Let’s spur one another on and consider deeper engagement in our communities.

These preoccupations and callousness emerge from an area that we tend to neglect – the health of our soul. Nurturing and preserving the soul should be our priority. Proactively engaging in personal life disciplines that nurture the spirit is foundational for our physical, emotional, intellectual, and relational health. Growing in intimacy with God, who is the giver, protector, and preserver of our soul and spirit, is crucial.

Mathew Santhosh Thomas is ICMDA Regional Secretary for South Asia

This picture did not come from a vacuum but from watching the head of the surgical unit where I was posted. We looked up to him with awe. He was our role model—a UK trained Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS), who wore a three-piece suit in the heat and humidity of South India. He was a phenomenally skilled surgeon who stood an imposing six feet tall.

A Change of Mind

Immediately after my graduation, I started work at a mission hospital in rural India. I met many doctors there, one of whom stood out. He was a surgeon who would ride a bicycle to work, wearing the traditional attire of khadi jubba and mundu, without any train of people following him. Initially, I did not pay much attention to him. But when I realised he was highly skilled and had a double FRCS, my perspective changed.

In conversations with him I learned he did not see himself primarily as a doctor, but a follower of Jesus who happened to be a well-trained surgeon. For a young doctor who had been brainwashed over 6 years of training to believe your identity is married to your profession, this was a paradigm breaking perspective. He considered all he had earned and received for his hard work as given to him by God. 

In every conversation, he displayed gratitude for being chosen and being given the skills, the profession, and the platform to care for others. I had studied hard and earned a degree on my own, so I was not used to considering it as a gift I had been given. But for him it was a privilege to give back to God by caring for those in pain.

An understanding of the gospel and his personal relationship with Jesus had transformed him to recognise he had been given a privilege to be part of Jesus’s own ministry in the world.

His posture confronted the reasons I joined the hospital. I joined healthcare thinking God needed my service and I had much to offer to God and the many whom I thought needed my help. I was realising the life of Jesus can transform me inwardly and the way I live outwardly in the world.

Being a healthcare practitioner and a follower of Christ can change our hearts, our reason for being in healthcare, our career choices and the way we carry out our professional practice.

A Change of Heart

A few years down the line I began working in a mission hospital in India. Most of my time was spent taking care of many with critical illness that needed my urgent attention. I had the opportunity to spend a few days with christians who were faithfully proclaiming and living out the gospel in difficult contexts. I saw the church growing vibrantly among a community that, just under a decade ago, was addicted to alcohol and had a long history of violence. The gospel was breaking through in power, with wonders and miracles.

I heard stories of many missionaries and church members who had died of Malaria in the field. I also had the privilege of caring for a missionary who was on her deathbed due to Malaria. The oldest member in that church community was 45 years old—the life expectancy there was less than 50.

There were women dying of childbirth every day, infants and children dying due to Malaria, TB and Kala Azar every other day. This was a church that was growing spiritually and flourishing but its members were dying of preventable illnesses.

I found this experience disturbing my heart and challenging my theology. From seeing the healthcare practice as taking care of those in need of critical care, I was being challenged to consider healthcare as ushering in the new heavens and the new earth.

I began to relate God’s desire for shalom to the work I was doing on the field: “No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old…” (Isaiah 65:20)

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.” (Zechariah 8:4-5)

The relevance of these images in the midst of the busy curative work I was engaged in began to change my theological perspective and its influence on the practice of healthcare.

I saw the importance of being an intentional healing presence as opposed to merely being a curing presence. I began to see that a person who may not be cured can still be cared for by journeying with them. I started to see that if healing has to come to a community and shalom has to be ushered in, there is a need for the church and a caring community where such a journey can take place. There was a need for a “multi-disciplinary” group of people who can support each other in this journey to healing and wholeness.

A Change in Responding to Challenges

During this season a person with HIV infection was brought into our OPD. In those days, it was a challenging task to get him admitted and provide him with care in the hospital. It was the early days of the HIV epidemic when there was so much fear, shame and stigma. The challenge for such marginalized communities to get access to compassionate care created internal disturbances for few of us in the team. We ended up starting a program to care for them.

After a few years spent working with and caring for HIV infected drug users and sex workers, we learned that the existing institutional structures were not open or accessible for such communities. The care needed to come in makeshift contexts—at home and within the community itself. For institutionally trained professionals this was tough but there was no other way.

We learned that when God challenges you to respond to a need he has put into your heart, being available for people is more important than the ability or availability of structures or institutional frameworks. Evolving models have to emerge from the needs around you. For those who have no cure in sight, we cannot but look beyond the body. And people can be cared for and healed only in the context of family and community. Such care can only come from a caring community.

The gospel invites us to be available to those who need the presence, the power and the love of God through a community that cares. The lifestyle, power and mandate of the gospel transforms our hearts, challenges our perspectives and warrants a response in our life choices. This is true not only for healthcare professionals, but for anyone who wants to follow Jesus.

This post first appeared on The Gospel Coalition. Republished with permsission.

Epidemics can end in two ways – transmission is well controlled and new cases come down to zero, and the epidemic is history. The other is, the disease becomes an ongoing part of the infectious-disease landscape, or an endemic. The shift from pandemic to endemic entails a number of practical considerations for managing the epidemic and the way we live. But the shift is also psychological, as we will be deprived of the satisfaction that a clean pandemic end point would bring. Instead, societies will have to adapt to living alongside COVID-19 by making some deliberate choices about how to coexist.

Pandemics and endemics, in the past, have forced communities to move to newer ways of living and engaging in the world. Other major disruptions of life too have created new normal ways of engaging. Biblical stories are interesting examples. Adam and Eve had to build a new life in a new normal world outside Eden. Noah, Daniel and friends are examples of people who had to pick up the pieces and chart a new course, post flood and in captivity.

The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I, at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. Nationalism pervaded as people accepted government authority. This allowed the public health departments to easily step in and implement their restrictive measures.

The war also gave science greater importance as governments relied on scientists, now armed with the new germ theory and the development of antiseptic surgery, to design vaccines and reduce mortalities of disease and battle wounds. The medical and scientific communities developed new theories and applied them to prevention, diagnostics and treatment of the influenza patients. Similarly, the black death saw the origin of hospices and later the hospitals that we know of now.

Mental health

The current pandemic that we are going through, with all the devastation it has left, has been traumatic for most of us. The physical effects of the virus, with high mortality, morbidity and many families losing their loved ones is the most evident. The economic, and the broader social impacts, the job losses, the migrants who have lost their livelihood, the relational issues with increasing domestic violence etc have been in the news and some of us might have experienced them too. Education related challenges and their impact on the system, the children and parents, is yet another major issue. Cross cutting through all these are mental wellbeing related issues.

A recent Lancet article reviews this well. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on people’s mental health. Yet, the global extent of this impact remains unknown. The authors estimated a significant increase in the prevalence of both major depressive disorder (with an estimated additional 53·2 million cases worldwide—ie a 27·6% increase) and anxiety disorders (76·2 million additional cases—ie a 25·6% increase) since before the pandemic. Increased prevalence was seen among both males and females across the lifespan. These findings are all the more concerning because depressive and anxiety disorders were already leading causes of disability worldwide.

What is the new normal?

But at the same time, if you look around there have been many positive changes and trends emerging around us. The challenges that we as individuals, communities and humanity at large have faced, have been opportunities to engage in a new way. New Normal was a well-known term in business circles but has become the current buzz word. Most large organisations have ongoing research and strategy development teams looking at, sector by sector, what the new normal would look like. They engage in defining and understanding the new normal and coming up with strategies to limit the spread of disease at the same time mitigate impact on other sectors. Some of them have gone ahead and coined terms like ‘Next Normal’ or ‘Next Possible’ as buzz words, to drive a new direction for tomorrow.

A few trends are highlighted here. This is not a comprehensive list, but just a glimpse into the massive changes that are happening around us.

Faced with uncertainty and facing our mortality, the core issues of our life, existence and meaning, are in most people minds, though not publicly discussed. Questions like, if life is so uncertain and I do not have control of my life, how should I live, who am I, what am I in the world for, how can I find significance, have never been asked the way they are being asked this season.

Such questions are leading to many looking at job, career and work in diverse ways. Large numbers of people are leaving the formal work sector and are exploring more flexible ways of engaging. A Microsoft study discovered that 41% of workers worldwide are considering quitting their jobs described as the ‘Great Resignation’. The study shows that Gen Z is struggling more than other generations. Work life balance, being valued by managers, sense of belonging, a trusting and caring community at workplace, meaningful advancement of careers, flexibility and autonomy are what people are looking for. If this is not there, they are moving out to set up startups on their own.

For organisations and companies COVID-19 has brought on an even higher awareness that we cannot have healthy people on an unhealthy planet or workplace. So, companies are looking at climate change, healthy work environments recognising that if they do not address these, that they may not have a competitive advantage in the market.

With social and physical distancing becoming a norm, technology has become the driver of all engagements whether at personal, community, work or social levels. Digital systems and AI based algorithms helping in decision making and work has taken over many fields, including healthcare. Digital natives, children and young people find this easy, but digital immigrants, the seniors struggle with this.

But what is assuring is, we are not in this alone – there is a collective vulnerability of our world. The most macho leaders, the most high-tech scientific establishments, and the economic powers have all met their match in this lowly virus. It should make us humble — think about what we need to do differently; how we need to act and behave differently.

Adapting to the new normal

So how should we face and live in such a world? It was Darwin, who said, it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change.

If we need to live as salt and light in this world, we need to cultivate some mindsets and lifestyles. Daniel and his friends in Babylon are a good case study to reflect on. Faced with a new normal they did a few things. They did not shy away from embracing the changes around them. They learnt the new language, immersed themselves in the new context and culture and lived lives of influence. They built their knowledge and expertise in new ways of engaging and excelled themselves in the spheres of engagement. They built their lives with a long-term perspective, Daniel serving three empires and four emperors over 70 years. But they held on to the core values and their faith as foundations. They supported each other, as they faced challenging contexts and situations.

A changing context of the world and new normal emerging around us, is a call for us to live such lives. Return and renew our commitment to the core foundations of our faith and values that should undergird our lives. At the same time, accept and embrace change and excel in new ways of engaging. We need to live our lives with a long-term life perspective – a long obedience in the same direction. Rooted in our relationship to God we need to build our dependence on the faith community that we are part of, to support and be supported in our journeys. Remember, God is still on the throne and in control. Such people and communities will continue to be salt and light in a world that is changing and losing its saltiness and light.

Mathew Santhosh Thomas is ICMDA Regional Secretary for South Asia

Published in Campus Link, UESI India bi-monthly magazine, Jan-Feb 2022, Volume 24, No.1. Home – Campus Link (campuslinklive.org), Republished with permission.

In this short post, I reflect on some lessons from nations that seem to have done well, in supporting their church-run and other mission institutions. These reflections are based on stories I have heard from some of the founders of national hospital associations and trying to draw some principles from these stories.

This is in no way comprehensive and complete but is written in the hope that some of the issues raised might stimulate more questions and ongoing reflections within ICMDA and its member organisations. I have not given many references as we do not yet have data to prove all that is written. So, these might look anecdotal and nebulous, but I hope will be the start of asking further questions on these assumptions or observations.

Many southern continent nations have had large numbers of MHs started by international mission agencies (IMAs). Most of them started in late 19^th century or early 20^th century. This was during the large cross-cultural missionary movement of those decades.

Most nations currently are facing or have already faced reduction in the numbers of such institutions, expect for a few well-run ones. These exceptions do well due to specific teams or support systems. But in the midst of such a global decline, there are signs that in some regions or nations, there is still life and energy. What are some of the reasons for such ongoing life and energy, what are some of those systems, processes and directions that make these locations different?

I want to look at six themes or directions that might have contributed to such a difference.

1. National Hospital Associations

Nations that have seem to do well are those who have been able to build and strengthen National Hospital Associations which are owned and led by national leaders.

We see such examples in South Asia and some African nations. In these nations, IMAs recognised the need of moving from focusing on running their institutions to playing a facilitatory role. Some IMAs even gave up their institutions to national organisations for a greater purpose of building and strengthening national hospital associations. There are stories of missionaries who gave up their positions and roles and travelled all over the nation to encourage mission institutions to come together and support the formation of National Hospital Associations and support the national ownership and running of such associations.

RW, a well settled CT surgeon in the most prestigious institution in the nation, gave up his position, travelled all over the nation where he was a missionary, to understand the context that was emerging in MHs. He met with the church leadership of that nation and challenged them to form a health care association that would run and manage the potentially closing MHs.

2. Christian Medical and Dental Associations

Many of these nations did not have a strong Christian Medical or Dental fellowship or organisation, at the time when hospital associations were formed. Where there were strong CMDAs or CMFs or where such groups were established alongside, and where the CMDAs or CMFs and hospital associations have held hands to support each other and grow together the MHs have done well. This was very evident again in South Asia and some other African nations.

FG, a professor of surgery and a missionary, took five years leave and travelled across the nation he had come to adopt as his own, challenging national young doctors to form a new CMDA for the nation.

3. Handing over control to health professionals

In many contexts and locations, the institutionalised church that did not have the know-how of running complex medical institutions, ended up managing these institutions not too well. But where the church and mission agencies gave control to trained healthcare and management professionals to run MHs, institutions seem to have done better. These people were those who can strategise and plan to take institutions forward.

4. Leadership development

Where proactive leadership development was a focus, national hospital associations have done well. Where senior and second line leadership has been built intentionally, there is still a cadre of leaders who provide leadership from the front. In some nations IMAs focused on this as their strategy of transition. Some nations like India were privileged to have IMAs who built Christian Medical colleges which played a major role in leadership development. In other nations national CMDAs or CMFs have proactively focused on leadership development, and built a cadre of trained professionals who are willing to take the leadership of institutions.

HS, a missionary family practitioner, in a MH, spent one year, traveling to all the medical schools and major towns and cities, meeting with young consultants and faculty, challenging them to move into MHs and take responsibility for these institutions. He gave up his position and role to focus on the bigger picture of the nation.  

5. Ongoing mentoring

Supporting and motivating these young leaders and journeying with them is key if these leaders must take institutions forward. Where ongoing mentoring support is provided to these leaders who have taken up responsibility and such systems and process have been set up, MHs seem to have done well.

6. Good governance

Studies have shown that in addition to HR, the other factors that influence MH sustainability are Governance and Hospital Management systems, (finance, material, human resources, quality statutory etc). David Stevens has addressed this well in his webinar. Those institutions that are doing well are those where such issues have been proactively addressed.  

The way forward

There will be many other issues like professional training and financial support. But one thing that stands out in all these contexts that are well doing are that there was a proactive and engaged leadership. COVID-19 had taught us that in locations where such leadership exists, institutions engage effectively.

How can we understand some of these issues better? What other factors are important? How can we start supporting MHs in nations where ICMDA has its presence?

Responses and reflections from the ICMDA family are invited.

Santhosh Mathew is ICMDA Head of Training and South Asia Regional Secretary

When Covid spread from urban centres to the villages of India, the country’s healthcare systems were challenged and confused. Owing to fear and uncertainty about managing within such contexts, many private healthcare providers closed their facilities. Government-run systems, which were overwhelmed and challenged even before the pandemic, struggled to respond to increasing numbers of patients. Christian mission hospitals across rural and urban India have been the most reliable frontline during Covid. We found that their leaders have been effective in guiding their people to address the different challenges they face daily.

Christian mission hospitals, referred to simply as mission hospitals, are at the frontline of healthcare wherever they are. They are the first and often only point of access to healthcare for their communities. We found that about 90 per cent of the network, comprising 273 mission institutions across India under the umbrella of the Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI), continues to provide effective and compassionate care even now.

We learnt this through our conversations with the CEOs of 165 mission hospitals. Amid uncertain and complex contexts, we heard and saw them lead their institutions through daily challenges using these five leadership principles.

Leading from vulnerability and brokenness

First, they amplified their relevance in a broken environment. The pandemic brought uncertainty about the future to an already vulnerable network serving the poor and marginalised in remote parts of India with limited resources and inadequate manpower. In this already vulnerable and broken context, increasing infections among the community as well as staff caused fear and panic.

But, based on their previous experiences of being in challenging contexts, they knew where to turn. They looked within their institution, staff and community for pre-existing strengths and added to them by gathering knowledge from various sources and training their staff in-house, thus gaining their confidence and support. They mended broken systems beyond their own sphere, mobilising resources to provide food, support and other necessities to communities of migrants coming back from locked-down cities. As they filled the gap left by closed-up private setups and supported the government in every way possible, they reinforced the reason for being where they were.

They recognised the many harassed and helpless among their community and were moved by a compassion which was shown by Jesus himself: ‘When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.’ (Matthew 9:36)

But, like Paul, they also recognised that it is God who gives the ability to care for others in spite of brokenness and vulnerability. ‘… We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.’ (2 Corinthians 4:7)

Leading with dependence and interdependence

Second, in order to achieve their greater purpose, they role-modelled a giving-up of self and a holding of hands. Led by their own vulnerability and brokenness, they became dependent and interdependent leaders. They first depended on God even more than before, prioritising prayer and worship times within their communities, thus gaining stability in unstable times. Then they reached out to the government, local and regional mission hospital networks, other NGOs and corporate agencies to both give and receive support. Many of them were used to working alone and in their silos and had to learn to create synergy by holding hands with others. This interdependence proved to be a stronger and more synergised model for appropriate, timely and affordable healthcare delivery.

In this way, they lived out the love of the kingdom community as commanded by Jesus: ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.’ (John 13:35) They tried to follow the footsteps of their master who role-modelled self-giving. ‘… Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross.’ (Philippians 2:5-8)

Leading by innovating, adapting and improvising

Third, they adapted their own systems to accommodate Covid-19 protocols. Hospital staff used the lull of the lockdown period prior to the full storm of the pandemic to prepare their own PPE, innovate cost-effective techniques for sterilisation and prevent the spread of the virus. They set aside time to engage with staff and innovate ways to keep them motivated. This prevented discouragement and anxiety. Among the wonderful innovations we saw in our network were PPEs made out of raincoats, thousands of masks for staff and community made by mask-stitching communities, masks and gowns stitched by church groups, intubation protection shields made out of baby incubators, face protection made out of plastic water cans and so on.

These creative innovations were an expression of the image of God. ‘Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them …’ (Genesis 1:26-27)

Leading with tenacity and a long-term perspective

Fourth, they developed a long-term response and perspective even while living in the realities of the present. The leadership had by now recognised that the coronavirus pandemic would be around for a long time. So, they started preparing each other for a marathon. They looked ahead and prepared for the long haul, setting up systems and teams to ensure that Covid and non-Covid systems could be housed within the same institution. When many private and state systems were not even willing to open their doors, mission hospitals and their leaders were preparing for the long journey onward, not reacting to the situation but responding with relevant strategies out of reflective thinking and planning.

As Jeremiah told the Israelites exiled in Babylon: ‘Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there, do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you in exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.’ (Jeremiah 29:5-7)

Agile leadership amid Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA)

Lastly, they took the challenge of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) head on. The environment around them was dynamic and change was everywhere. Management protocols were changing frequently, expectations from stakeholders were changing every other day, government reporting formats were changing frequently, testing algorithms were being refined every week and many key staff were being infected. Many young and not-so-young leaders surveyed the regions, understood the felt need and made meticulous plans with proper knowledge and protocols in order to fit those needs. At the same time, they were agile and dynamic, aligning and realigning systems to the fast-changing contexts and their expectations.

They recognised that like Esther they were where they were for ‘such a time as this’! (Esther 4:14)

Relevant to the context and agile, the foundations of our leaders were:

• A deep sense of surety that the sovereign Lord controls not just the past, but also the present and the future.
• An ability to learn from the stories and experiences of the past, to hold on with tenacity in the present and look ahead with confidence to a future – all held by God.
• An understanding that their mandate for the present is to support and engage with each other effectively.

Being led as triumphant captives, they are spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14)

Dr Priya John is General Secretary of the Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI) and Dr Santhosh Mathew is Regional Secretary for ICMDA’s South Asia region.

Em seus primeiros anos, Jacó exibe muito bem as características de seu nome – usurpador, enganador, aquele que luta com o homem. Ele está sempre indo à frente dos planos de Deus para sua vida, tentando tomar o controle de várias maneiras. Ele engana seu irmão e seu pai, e foge para Midiã temendo retaliação de seu irmão. Mas os 20 anos que passa em Midiã com o sogro são uma fase difícil de sua vida, pois ele encontra seu par. Labão é um enganador e manipulador igualmente astuto.

O momento Peniel acontece no seu caminho de volta à terra de seus antepassados. Jacó, farto de seu sogro, quer voltar para sua terra natal com suas duas esposas e onze filhos, mas está com medo. Ele se lembra da ira de seu irmão Esaú e espera o pior. Então, ele planeja bem sua jornada para proteger seus pertences e sua família. À frente da caravana, ele posiciona vários presentes seguidos por diferentes grupos, sua família em seguida, e então ele próprio os segue na parte de trás. Depois de enviar os outros para atravessar o ribeiro, ele fica sozinho. Lá ele conhece um homem.

O homem entra em uma luta corpo a corpo com Jacó. Eles lutam a noite toda. Finalmente, o homem desloca o quadril de Jacó. Embora deficiente, Jacó não o deixa e diz: ‘Não te deixarei ir, a não ser que me abençoes”. (Gênesis 32:26 NVI)

Um homem egocêntrico que está tentando progredir na vida e aparentemente está no controle de repente se descobre coxo. Daquele dia em diante, quando ele acordar de manhã, ele vai acordar mancando. Quando ele sair da cama, ele se lembrará de como naquele dia em Peniel ele ficou aleijado, quebrado e vulnerável.

Como indivíduos e como nações, podemos reconhecer que estamos em um momento Peniel próprio. Muitos de nós fomos lembrados de que não estamos no controle de nossas vidas. As nações e suas lideranças perceberam que também não estão no controle. Os sistemas em que confiamos – economia, estabilidade, saúde, etc. – foram todos eliminados. Estamos sendo lembrados de que somos um mundo quebrado. Não vamos rejeitar, mas abraçar esta temporada de deficiência.

Depois de aleijar Jacó, o homem em Peniel pede que ele diga seu nome. Os nomes na cultura judaica denotam caráter. O suplantador e aquele que lutou com o homem – Jacó – está agora sendo solicitado a declarar seu nome, e, portanto, seu caráter. Quando ele faz isso, ele recebe um novo nome – Israel, aquele que luta com Deus. Uma mudança no nome também significa uma mudança em quem ele é. De ser uma pessoa que luta para controlar sua vida, ele se torna alguém que entrega sua vida a Deus!

Neste momento Peniel, nós, como indivíduos e como nações, não apenas precisamos abraçar nosso quebrantamento, mas também permitir que Deus mude nosso nome e caráter. Deixe-nos passar de carentes lutando pelo controle, para os que entregam tudo a Deus.

Qual poderia ser o resultado disso?  

Se seguirmos a vida de Jacó após o encontro em Peniel, duas coisas se destacam. Primeiro, há uma renovação de seu relacionamento com Deus. Até então, ao contrário do pai e do avô, ele não construiu um altar nem adorou a Jeová. Enquanto fugia de seu irmão, ele barganhou com Deus e prometeu que se fosse trazido de volta em segurança para Betel, ele construiria uma casa para Ele lá. (Gênesis 28:20-22 [4]) Ele se esqueceu dessa promessa. Após a mutilação e a mudança de nome, vemos Jacó construindo um altar a Deus em Siquém. (Gênesis 33:18-20 [5]) Mas depois de se estabelecer, ele novamente se esquece de sua promessa sobre Betel. Deus vem até ele e o lembra, então ele retorna a Betel, constrói um altar e adora a Deus ali. (Gênesis 35:1-7 [6])

Em segundo lugar, se seguirmos a vida de Jacó depois do momento Peniel, veremos que ele não está mais se guiando. Em vez disso, ele está sendo conduzido – pacificamente – por Deus e seus entes queridos. Isso é o que vai acontecer conosco se não perdermos esta preciosa temporada de Peniel. Devemos orar para que nosso mundo também receba essa experiência. Oremos para que as nações e seus líderes desenvolvam um senso de confiança, dependência e descanso – não em sua própria capacidade de controlar a situação, mas em Deus.

Que esta temporada seja de engajamento proativo com Deus, por meio do qual somos quebrantados, tornados vulneráveis ​​e permitindo que Deus mude nosso nome e caráter. Essa época nos levará a um relacionamento renovado com Deus e à paz de sermos liderados por ele.

O Dr. Santhosh Mathew é Secretário Regional para o Sul da Ásia e Chefe de Treinamento do ICMDA

Referências

1. https://blogs.icmda.net/author/smathew/

2. Médicos de Cristo – Tradução: Mireille Gomes / Revisão: Suany Serudo

3. https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/gn/32/22-32

4. https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/gn/28/20-22

5. https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/gn/33/18-20

6. https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/gn/35/1-7

Um versículo que tem encorajado e desafiado muitos nestes dias. Eu vi essa mensagem em muitos grupos, prefácios e mídias sociais neste período. Uma excelente promessa a cumprir enquanto atravessamos este longo período incerto.

Lendo as seções da Bíblia de onde isso foi tirado, percebi que essa promessa – dada aos judeus no cativeiro na Babilônia – se enquadra no contexto de alguns chamados e mandamentos à nação cativa. Quero olhar para o contexto e destacar cinco mandamentos ou chamados que Deus estava dando por meio de Jeremias.

Havia duas comunidades para as quais Jeremias estava levando a mensagem de Deus. Primeiro, os líderes e comunidades que estavam sitiados (quarentena) em Jerusalém na esperança de um levantamento da ocupação em um futuro próximo. O segundo foram os cativos que foram levados para a Babilônia e viviam na esperança de um retorno em breve. Eles tinham líderes que constantemente lhes diziam que esse contexto logo passaria. (Jeremias 28:10-11 [3], Jeremias 29:15 [4])

Jeremias, por meio da demonstração visual com um jugo de madeira em volta do pescoço e, mais tarde, da imagem de um jugo de ferro, comunicou uma perspectiva de longo prazo a ambas as comunidades. Em contraste, a liderança estava dando a eles esperanças de um desafio de curto prazo e uma reversão rápida em breve!  (Jeremias 27:2 [5], Jeremias 28:13 [6]).

Quero que consideremos cinco chamados que Deus estava fazendo a essas comunidades por meio de Jeremias.

Um chamado para se submeter ao contexto.  (Jeremias 27:11 [7])  O pensamento de curto prazo da liderança teve de ser ignorado para uma perspectiva de longo prazo. Eles estavam sendo solicitados a se submeter ao contexto de um cativeiro de longo prazo e uma nova fase da vida.

Um chamado a uma vida produtiva e engajada no presente.  (Jeremias 29:4-7 [8])  O grupo que havia sido levado cativo estava esperando, com base nas promessas de alguns de seus líderes para ser trazido de volta em breve. Eles estavam olhando para o passado, lembrando-se dele e esperando o dia em que poderiam voltar. Jeremias os desafia a construir casas, plantar vinhas, se casar, ter filhos e buscar a paz e a prosperidade de seus captores e da terra onde estavam. Um chamado para vivermos engajados vive no contexto atual.

Um chamado para viver uma vida de oração.  Jeremias não apenas pede que busquem a paz e a prosperidade da terra para onde foram levados como cativos, mas que orem pela terra, porque no bem-estar da terra estava o bem-estar deles. Um chamado para viver uma vida de oração pela nação que destruiu suas terras e os levou como cativos.  (Jeremias 29:7 [8])

Um chamado para viver uma vida de discernimento.  Jeremias os desafia a discernir entre a sabedoria do mundo e a sabedoria divina. Discernir entre a falsidade e a verdade.  (Jeremias 29:8-9 [9], Jeremias 29:31-32 [10])  Ele estava os desafiando a entender o contexto e a estação através da perspectiva de Deus e não serem apanhados com as falsas mensagens circulando.

Um chamado para viver vidas esperançosas.  O quinto e último chamado foi de esperança para o futuro. Esperança de uma restauração física e uma restauração espiritual. A restauração física levaria 70 anos! (Jeremias 29:10 [11])  Muitos daquela geração não estariam por perto para ver essa restauração se tornar uma realidade. Em certo sentido, eram como aqueles descritos em Hebreus 11: ‘Todos estes ainda viveram pela fé, e morreram sem receber o que tinha sido prometido; viram-nas de longe e de longe as saudaram, reconhecendo que eram estrangeiros e peregrinos na terra.’  (Hebreus 11:13 NVI)  Eles deveriam viver uma vida de esperança por um futuro além de suas vidas! Ao mesmo tempo, uma esperança de uma restauração espiritual de um relacionamento com Deus e Seu relacionamento com eles.  (Jeremias 29:12-13 [12])

Prensada entre essas ligações estava a promessa: ‘“Porque sou que conheço os planos que tenho para vocês”, diz o Senhor, “planos de fazê-los prosperar e não de causar danos, planos de dar a vocês esperança e um futuro. Então, vocês clamarão a mim, virão orar a mim, e eu os ouvirei. ”

Um lembrete para nós neste período – para nos apegarmos à promessa dos grandes planos de Deus para nossas vidas. Ao mesmo tempo, um chamado a uma vida de submissão e engajamento frutífero no presente. Vidas de oração pelo contexto e por nossas nações, discernindo os propósitos de Deus para nós e as nações nesta temporada. Mantendo a esperança de uma restauração física em seu tempo, mas uma restauração espiritual hoje. 

Que Deus nos capacite a viver essas vidas!  

Santhosh Mathew é Secretário Regional para o Sul da Ásia e Chefe de Treinamento do ICMDA.

Referências

1. https://blogs.icmda.net/author/smathew/

2. Médicos de Cristo – Tradução: Mireille Gomes / Revisão: Suany Serudo

3. Então o profeta Hananias tirou o jugo do pescoço de Jeremias e o quebrou, e disse diante de todo o povo: “Assim diz o Senhor: ‘É deste modo que quebrarei o jugo de Nabucodonosor, rei da Babilônia, e o tirarei do pescoço de todas as nações no prazo de dois anos’ “. Diante disso, o profeta Jeremias retirou-se. Jeremias 28:10,11 NVI

4. Vocês podem dizer: “O Senhor levantou profetas para nós na Babilônia”, Jeremias 29:15 NVI

5. Assim me ordenou o Senhor: “Faça para você um jugo com cordas e madeira e ponha-o sobre o pescoço. Jeremias 27:2 NVI

6. “Vá dizer a Hananias: ‘Assim diz o Senhor: Você quebrou um jugo de madeira, mas em seu lugar você fará um jugo de ferro. Jeremias 28:13 NVI

7. Mas, se alguma nação colocar o pescoço sob o jugo do rei da Babilônia e a ele se sujeitar, então deixarei aquela nação permanecer na sua própria terra para cultivá-la e nela viver’, declara o Senhor”. Jeremias 27:11

8. Assim diz o Senhor dos Exércitos, o Deus de Israel, a todos os exilados, que deportei de Jerusalém para a Babilônia: “Construam casas e habitem nelas; plantem jardins e comam de seus frutos. Casem-se e tenham filhos e filhas; escolham mulheres para casar-se com seus filhos e dêem as suas filhas em casamento, para que também tenham filhos e filhas. Multipliquem-se e não diminuam. Busquem a prosperidade da cidade para a qual eu os deportei e orem ao Senhor em favor dela, porque a prosperidade de vocês depende da prosperidade dela”. Jeremias 29:4-7 NVI

9. Porque assim diz o Senhor dos Exércitos, o Deus de Israel: “Não deixem que os profetas e adivinhos que há no meio de vocês os enganem. Não dêem atenção aos sonhos que vocês os encorajam a terem. Eles estão profetizando mentiras em meu nome. Eu não os enviei”, declara o Senhor. Jeremias 29:8,9 NVI

10. “Envie esta mensagem a todos os exilados: ‘Assim diz o Senhor sobre Semaías, de Neelam: Embora eu não o tenha enviado, Semaías profetizou a vocês e fez com que vocês cressem numa mentira, por isso, assim diz o Senhor: Castigarei Semaías, de Neelam, e os seus descendentes. Não lhe restará ninguém entre este povo, e ele não verá as coisas boas que vou fazer em favor de meu povo’, declara o Senhor, ‘porque ele pregou rebelião contra o Senhor’ “. Jeremias 29:31,32 NVI

11. Assim diz o Senhor: “Quando se completarem os setenta anos da Babilônia, eu cumprirei a minha promessa em favor de vocês, de trazê-los de volta para este lugar. Jeremias 29:10 NVI

12. Então vocês clamarão a mim, virão orar a mim, e eu os ouvirei. Vocês me procurarão e me acharão quando me procurarem de todo o coração. Jeremias 29:12,13 NVI

Em um artigo escrito por Andy Crouch, Kurt Keilhacker e Dave Blanchard em março[2], foi compartilhado: “este é um momento para redesenhar urgentemente nosso trabalho à luz do que acreditamos não ser apenas uma ‘nevasca’ de uma semana, nem mesmo apenas um ‘inverno’ de um mês, mas algo mais próximo do início de uma ‘era glacial’ de 12 a 18 meses, na qual muitas suposições e abordagens devem mudar para sempre.” Isso parece ser verdade para a maioria de nós hoje, um longo inverno ou uma era glacial.

Mas o desafio é que muito poucos de nós estão preparados para liderar a si mesmos e / ou outros através de um período tão longo de incerteza e crise! Se você observar líderes de todo o mundo, há respostas variadas. Alguns são como avestruzes, alheios aos desafios, usando o contexto desafiador para viver vidas que sempre desejaram – não relevantes para o contexto, mas vidas que desejavam viver e desfrutar! Eles estão usando o contexto para seus próprios ganhos pessoais e objetivos mesquinhos de autopromoção ou auto-apaziguamento. Há outros que foram dominados pelo medo, pânico, falta de clareza e desistiram ou estão vivendo vidas ineficazes – flutuando junto com a correnteza, esperando que um dia o fluxo termine e eles possam nadar até a praia. E, por último, há alguns que estão vivendo e liderando a si e aos outros com uma clareza de pensamento e com tenacidade.

O que ajuda as pessoas a viver uma vida de tenacidade em meio a crises e incertezas contínuas?

Na Bíblia, há a figura de Jesus, voltando o rosto para Jerusalém e caminhando em direção a ela. Os discípulos o seguiram e ficaram com medo (Marcos 10:32[3]). Para Jesus, foi no final de quase um ano ou mais de crescente oposição. Ele sabia, quando começou a carreira, que estava chegando ao fim da jornada de vida que experimentara até agora. John Piper diz: ‘Quando Jesus voltou seu rosto a Jerusalém, ele o colocou para morrer. Lembre-se, quando você pensa na resolução de Jesus de morrer, que ele tinha uma natureza como a nossa. Ele se encolheu de dor como nós. Ele teria desfrutado de casamento, filhos e netos, além de uma longa vida e estima na comunidade.’

Quatro coisas se destacam ao seguirmos Jesus na jornada nos próximos dias de sua vida.

A clareza de um objetivo abrangente. Estava claro pelo que ele veio e que a clareza de propósito lhe dava a capacidade de enfrentar a oposição prolongada e os poucos dias à frente. Ele tinha certeza de que a reviravolta estava à sua frente e seria alcançada em alguns dias, embora difíceis. Mas ele estava certo de que esse era o objetivo para o qual ele havia chegado!

O carinho por seus seguidores. Nos próximos dois dias, e antes disso, o encontramos passando cada vez mais tempo com seus amigos e seguidores, incentivando e apoiando-os. Embora ele estivesse preocupado e desafiado, ele intencionalmente passou um tempo incentivando e desafiando seus amigos a aguentarem. Em João 13:1, diz: ‘Um pouco antes da festa da Páscoa, sabendo Jesus que havia chegado o tempo em que deixaria este mundo e iria para o Pai, tendo amado os seus que estavam no mundo, amou-os até o fim.[NVI]’ Com esse profundo senso de amor, sustentado por sua clareza de quem ele era e qual era o propósito de sua vida, ele lava os pés de seus discípulos, incluindo aquele que o trairia.

A abertura e a vulnerabilidade. No jardim do Getsêmani, ele convidou seus amigos íntimos para acompanhá-lo. Um lugar onde ele derramaria suas lutas internas e dor ao pai. Mas esse aspecto de sua vida estava aberto para seus amigos íntimos verem e entenderem. Ele pediu que eles acordassem e orassem como apoio!

Sua submissão. Nos dias seguintes, vemos um mestre calmo e composto percorrendo o caminho diante dele, submetendo completamente o contexto, os desafios e o futuro às mãos soberanas de seu pai.

Um modelo para refletirmos. Nossa tenacidade deve vir de nossa clareza de propósito. Essa clareza de propósito e garantia de nossa identidade deve permitir que cuidemos dos outros, embora nós mesmos precisemos de cuidados. Mas precisamos viver e modelar uma vida de vulnerabilidade, abertura e oração. A oração derrama nossas confusões perante Deus, nosso pai. E esse engajamento com Deus e amigos, levando à submissão e confiança, confiança nos propósitos gerais de um Deus soberano!

Que Deus nos permita viver uma vida de tenacidade neste inverno confuso e desafiador!

Santhosh Mathew é secretário regional do ICMDA para o sul da Ásia 

Referências

1. https://blogs.icmda.net/author/smathew/

2.https://journal.praxislabs.org/leading-beyond-the-blizzard-why-every-organization-is-now-a-startup-b7f32fb278ff

3. Eles estavam subindo para Jerusalém, e Jesus ia à frente. Os discípulos estavam admirados, enquanto os que o seguiam estavam com medo. Marcos 10:32[NVI]

В свои ранние годы Иаков слишком хорошо проявляет характеристики своего имени – подстрекатель, обманщик, тот, кто борется с человеком. Он всегда идет впереди Божьих планов на свою жизнь, пытаясь взять их под контроль различными способами. Он обманывает своего брата и отца и, опасаясь возмездия, сбегает. Но 20 лет, которые он провел со своим тестем, стал  тяжелым периодом в его жизни, поскольку он встречает Лавана – манипулятора и человека лукавого.

Случай в Пенуэле происходит на обратном пути в страну его предков. Иаков, получив достаточно от своего тестя, хочет вернуться на родину с двумя женами и одиннадцатью детьми, но боится. Он помнит гнев своего брата Исава и ожидает худшего. Он тщательно продумывает свое путешествие, чтобы защитить свою семью и то, что ему принадлежит. Во главе каравана он располагает несколько подарков, за которыми следуют его слуги, затем семья, а затем и он сам за ними сзади. После того, как он переводит их через поток Иавок, он остается один. Там он встречает человека.

Человек вступает в схватку с Иаковом. Они борются всю ночь. Наконец, мужчина повреждает бедро Иакову. Несмотря на это, Иаков не оставляет его и говорит: «не отпущу Тебя, пока не благословишь меня» (Бытие 32:26).

Человек, который многого добился самостоятельно и который пытается продвинуться по жизни, все контролирует, внезапно обнаруживает, что он хромает. С этого дня, просыпаясь утром, он будет хромать и это будет ему напоминанием о том, как однажды в Пенуэле он был искалечен, сломан и уязвлен.

Сейчас мы можем признать, что находимся в Пенуэле. Мы поняли, что не можем полностью контролировать свою жизнь. Государства и их лидеры также это осознают. Системы, на которые мы возлагали свои надежды – экономика, стабильность, здоровье и т.д. – потеряли наше доверие. Нам напоминают, что мы сломались. Давайте не будем это отвергать, а примем этот период «потери трудоспособности».

После поврждения бедро Иакову, человек в Пенуэле просит назвать его имя. Имена в еврейской культуре обозначают характер. Иакову дается новое имя – Израиль, тот, кто боролся с Богом. Изменение имени также означает изменение того, кем человек является на самом деле. Из того, кто изо всех сил пытался контролировать свою жизнь, он становится тем, кто отдает свою жизнь Богу!

В этот период нахождения в современном Пенуэле мы, как отдельные люди и как народы, не только должны принять нашу сломленность, но также должны позволить Богу изменить наше имя и наш характер. Давайте перестанем испытывать необходимость все контролировать и предадим это в руки Богу.

Какой может быть из этого результат?

В жизни Иакова, следующей после встречи в Пенуэле, можно выделить две вещи.

Первое, это обновление его отношений с Богом. До этого он не строил жертвенник и не поклонялся Иегове, в отличие от своих отца и деда. Убегая от своего брата, он договорился с Богом и пообещал Ему, что в случае его благополучного возвращения в Вефиль, он построит там дом Божий. (Бытие 28:20-22) И он забыл об этом обещании. После изменения имени мы видим, как Иаков строит жертвенник Богу в Сихеме. (Бытие 33:18-20) Однако он снова забывает свое обещание о Вефиле. Бог является к нему и напоминает об этом, после чего он возвращается в Вефиль, строит там жертвенник и поклоняется Богу. (Бытие 35:1-7)

Второе, мы видим, что после случившегося в Пенуэле, Иаков больше не руководит сам собой. Вместо этого этим занимается Бог. То же произойдет и с нами, если мы не упустим это драгоценное время в Пенуэле. Мы должны молиться, чтобы наши народы тоже получили этот опыт. Давайте молиться, чтобы страны и их руководители выработали именно то чувство уверенности, зависимости и спокойствия, но не в своей способности контролировать ситуацию, а в Боге.

Пусть это время станет периодом активного взаимодействия с Богом, в результате которого мы сломаемся, сделаемся уязвимыми и позволим Богу изменить наше имя и характер. Такое время приведет нас к обновленным отношениям с Богом и к миру, который Он дает.

Сантош Мэтью – региональный секретарь по Южной Азии и руководитель отдела обучения ICMDA.

Перевод Др. Ирины Гуща, Беларусь