Every year on my birthday, I choose a spirit led word that I hear God tell me to focus on for that next year of life. The way that I found my word came a little differently than in past years. You see, just before my birthday I found out I would need another surgery on my neck to hopefully give me more stability and reduce the chronic pain that I experienced. There was a lot to discuss and decide regarding that recommendation from the doctor. At the time of my birthday, I just kept thinking, I just want peace Lord. I don’t want to have to keep fighting this same battle of yet another medical event in my life. A battle within to maintain faith that it will all be ok mostly. Faith that all things would be provided for that we need. Faith and trust that it would be for the better…..little did I know that I would end up having 2 surgeries within 6 days of each other.
So, I started to investigate the word peace. Peace in Hebrew is the word Shalom. It means, “Taking what is broken and restoring it to wholeness”. It is a complete well-being-physical, psychological, social, and spiritual. It flows from all of one’s relationships being put right -with God, with(in), and with others. It signifies a sense of well-being and harmony both within and without - Completeness, wholeness, peace, health, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord, a state of calm without anxiety or stress. Wow, I thought. I really do want this kind of peace, don’t you?
As I reflect on this past year, there are a lot of things I can give thanks to God because HE HAS brought this Shalom peace to our lives and for so many that we serve. Our mission to help people impacted by disability find God, find a place of community, encounter belonging in the church community, and find that “shalom peace” so that they are not alone has remained at our center. We continue to work on educating the church on how to do that and create spaces for families with disabilities in their lives to feel supported. Our desire and ultimate goal is that there is a change in the culture that overflows to other churches in Peru and beyond.
Let me tell you about Jared. Jared is an 11-year-old boy who has autism. He has been attending our church since he was 4 years old. He is nonverbal but understands everything. He often gets stuck when he needs to make a choice about something. Jared often integrates with same age peers for worship and then comes to the specialized room for the bible lesson. Recently though, our team has been trying to get him to stay with his peers of the same age for longer periods of time. A few weeks ago, after worship, all the kids were asked to draw a picture of what Jesus might look like and then color the picture. You could see all the kids eagerly drawing their pictures of Jesus, but Jared was frozen. He just couldn’t figure out what to do. His face presented with frustration and anguish in not being able to do what the others were doing. Without even being prompted, another child noticed Jared’s anguish, came up to him and said, “don’t worry, come with me and we will draw Jesus together”! WOW!!!!!! Something so simple, so natural, and really what we desire for the entire church to imitate!!! It was a beautiful moment. Including people with disabilities may seem difficult, however, like this child, he took the first step by noting the need that Jared had in this specific moment and offered a simple solution for that moment!!!
I am just beginning to learn and understand the depth of this word Shalom. I will keep searching for Shalom by drawing nearer to the Prince of Peace himself, even amidst the battles of life. For the families we serve, we dream of a day when all these families we get to serve like Jared will have fullness, harmony, wholeness, “SHALOM” in their lives because they first found acceptance and belonging in the local church. As we wrap up this year, we thank you for your financial support to allow us to continue to do what God has called us to do. If not for your donations, we would not be able to dedicate our lives full time to the ministry. We thank you for believing in what we are doing and for your constant encouragement and support.
As you know as a missionary family, we receive 100% of our living expenses from your tax-deductible donations. Like many, we have had increases in daily living expenses including rent, food, gas, and Kaleb’s schooling. Our international health insurance has also increased by 20%. We are looking for new people to join our team so that we can cover our financial needs. We are looking to raise 700$ a month more in support in order to cover those increases. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please let us know so we can reach out to them. Or if you feel led to make an extra end of the year donation that would also be greatly appreciated.
With love from our family to yours.
Clever, Lisa & Kaleb
“Search for peace and work to maintain it.” Psalm 34:14