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Reflections
on Friendship.
by
Dave Quintana
For many years now,
I have been sending a Christmas letter recounting a bit of the past year
as well as some thoughts on how I have experienced God working through
it all. Many people have responded encouragingly over the years, saying
that they greatly look forward to hearing from me and that I should write
more. A similar thing happened a number of years ago when I shared some
writings about a one-month mini-sabbatical that I took working with the
poor in the Philippines. So, what you have before you is their fault! It
is also the result of me getting a bit more reflective in my old age, and
growing in my desire to attempt to share the riches of God’s dealings with
me. [excerpt from the Introduction to Daily
Meds from the Q Source Book]
Friends Help
Friends are a gift of God – a constant
source of help and encouragement. In the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 9 a
paralytic’s friends take him up onto the roof of a house where Jesus is
teaching and lower him through the ceiling because that is the only way
to get him close to Jesus. You see, these friends are willing to do whatever
it takes to get their needy friend into Jesus’ presence. Those are the
kind of friends I want! In a silly movie (“As Good As It Gets”) waitress
Helen Hunt tells abrasive neurotic Jack Nicholson that he must say something
nice to her. After a few feeble attempts he stumbles into telling her,
“you make me want to be a better man.” That’s the kind of friend that I
want to be to others – making them want to be better men, and better women.
I like the way Pete Greig puts it – we “choose to be friends travelling
together and dreaming along the way.”
They gathered in such
large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and
he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed
man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because
of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through
it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their
faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Mark 2:2-5 NIV translation
Dave (center) addresses young
people in Khandala, India
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Friends Accompany
I have been blessed to live in Latin
America (San Jose, Costa Rica), Asia (Manila, Philippines) and Europe (Belfast,
N. Ireland and London, UK) as well as my native United States. In each
of these places I have also been fortunate enough to travel rather extensively.
And you know what I’ve found? That God gives me dear friends, “special
friends,” brothers and sisters of the heart, “soul mates” – with whom to
share life and service in each place along the way. It is not good for
us to be alone. God gives us other people to share and enjoy life with
along the way. I am delighted in God’s call to me to forsake marriage and
family in order to live a life consecrated to him in a special way. And
I am also delighted that he grants me married brothers and sisters, dear
friends to be encouraged by and to encourage in return.
One who has unreliable
friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than
a brother.
Proverbs 18:24 NIV
translation
Friends Labor
Some of the most interesting stops
along the way in this journey called life have been connecting with other
Christian ministries. In them too have I found the Lord gifting me with
intimate companions and friends – fellow-workers in the Lord’s vineyards.
They inspire me and they challenge me. They help me to be more appreciative
for what I have, and they help me to open my eyes to see more of what I
could be for the Lord. Let me introduce you to a few of my friends. I thank
God for old friends such as YWAM (Youth With A Mission), and their heart
for the lost and their willingness to dare to do crazy things for God.
I thank God for new friends as well, friends like the YMCA in Munich (and
other places) that combine cutting-edge youth ministry with rich and full
community life. Can I encourage you to surround yourself with friends that
are like you, and friends that are different than you are? With friends
who will accept you as you are, and also challenge you to not just stay
that way?
Whatever happens, conduct
yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I
come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that
you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith
of the gospel.
Philippians 1:27 NIV
translation
Dave (left) on a tour of the
squatter area by Payatas dump in Manila
Friends Challenge
Another friend that has impacted
me significantly is CCDA (Christian Community Development Association).
They are often found working in difficult areas of inner cities, labouring
in love the 3 R’s – relocation, redistribution and reconciliation. Their
radicalness has made me uncomfortable and challenged my mind and my heart
as well as my lifestyle. I also think of my friend Bo who felt led by the
Lord to open a home for abandoned elderly in the Philippines. This “Anawim”
(or “home”) is a stirring example for me of what the Lord can do with “an
open mind and a broken heart.” Or gosh, I could tell you lots of stories
of my friend Jodean who works with the poor (“He Cares”) in and around
Metro Manila – and the mark made upon my life from the challenge that came
to me from my week living and ministering with them that I will carry with
me forever.
Wash and make yourselves
clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn
to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the
fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
Isaiah 1:16-17 NIV
translation
[Dave
Quintana is an elder of the Servants
of the Word, a missionary brotherhood of men living single for the
Lord. He is also a regional coordinator for the Sword
of the Spirit in Europe and the Middle East. He currently lives in
London, England.]
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Daily Meds from the Q
Source
By Dave Quintana, published
by Tabor House, 2012, 250
pages, $11.00
Dave Quintana's daily meditations
and Bible readings to stir our minds and kindle our hearts in 2013. He
explores themes important to all who search to be wise men and women in
the Lord, and provides a wealth of personal experience from living and
ministering in Central America, Asia, Europe, and the United States. Expect
to be challenged. Expect to be inspired. Expect to meet the living and
loving God. Order one for
yourself and more to give as gifts! |
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