Even as the LORD whispered this title to me, I was not thrilled at all. I also whispered back to HIM, “People will not like this. They could even be offended.” In our dialogue, HE was asking me, “Who is this season really about?”
Yesterday, a newly placed missionary was reminiscing about all the marvelous sights, sounds and experiences of this season. She was waxing line upon line. Abruptly, she had multiple emojis of crying and dismay. As she was running excitedly down memory lane, reality intersected her, and stopped her like a brick wall.
This Thanksgiving and Christmas, she will be so far from everything familiar that she might as well be on another planet, or in another galaxy. We prepare, train, and answer the tender loving call of GOD to go to other lands to take HIS heart and truth. We get so swept up in our love relationship with HIM. Those we are being assigned to reach overwhelm our thoughts and actions.
Our training and prep might be done in a city or state far from our home. Surroundings and sounds are new but still familiar. After all, this is still America. A phone call, or break in training to spend time with family is afforded us.
The suitcases, new clothes, gifts from friends, and things to share in our new world are in place. Dressed in our best, with our new wardrobe, and armed with gifts, excitement and anticipation we head to the airport. Courage and strength sustain us to our destination.
New everything- people, sights, language, food, and culture - keeps us engaged and pushes our past life to the background. So much to do, learn, and absorb: we have little time for thinking about missing home and all we held dear.
Facebook posts from your family and friends begin to be overwhelming seasonal. Cookies by the tray, decorated trees, snow, and everything Christmas and holidays are impossible to avoid. When you are thousands of miles from home, this feels so isolating. An ache enters your soul, and you may question your decision and maybe regret that that life is passing you by.
People who have gone through separation, loss, or grief know the extreme pain of a holiday like Christmas. Our minds can be our worst enemy making presumptions and assumptions. The ache screams louder than reason. We who have survived these experiences know so well how to encourage, pray, and carry our dear fellow sojourners in this time. JESUS knows this the best.
I will be in Kenya for Christmas and for every event or milestone in the next year. I spent every other Christmas with my family and friends here. The others I spend with my loved ones in Kenya. I remember one holiday being in the bush with drought, famine, no power, and no sounds or sights of Christmas. Phoning home, I heard the laughter and sounds of Christmas. I thought I would be crushed under the weight of the ‘ouch’. My precious BRIDEGROOM came and began to minister and speak to me. HE was with FATHER, HOLY SPIRIT, and all the angels in heaven since time began. HE was never separated from all HE loved. Yet HE chose to come as a baby placed in the womb of a virgin. A scandalous pregnancy requiring an angel to convince Joseph to marry her. Imagine the gossip, and his questioning and courage. Unprecedented! No virgin can be pregnant.
JESUS was being jostled on a donkey in his mother’s womb on the way to a strange city with no home to call his own, no relatives to lend you a room, no time for hotel reservations. Really, a smelly stable? GOD entrusted the hope of man to this couple, in this setting.
Born in a stable with surrounded by animals, with shepherds and angels coming to call. Before a routine of sleep and feeding is established, rumors and threats were being carried out. All male babies were being ripped from the arms of moms and dads. On the run now to a strange land where your ancestors had been enslaved.
As HE ministered this to me, I realized HE had suffered this for me. HE was asking me to now drink from the cup of suffering for the sake of redemption for those HE called me to minister to. I cannot express how this moved me.
Isaiah 53:4-9
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows[a] that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
7 He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
8 Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.[b]
No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream.[c]
But he was struck down
for the rebellion of my people.
9 He had done no wrong
and had never deceived anyone.
We do not equate Christmas with suffering. We have the cultural mindset to focus on gifts, family gatherings, and parties. Yet through these lenses, we can make out the cross looming beyond the stable.
There is no guilt if you are surrounded by all those you love and things familiar. Enjoy to the fullest! Drink in sounds and sights! Lock them in your memory. Just please pray for those laying in hospital beds, military stationed on the front lines, or your missionaries who chose to cross the seas and labor in HIS vineyard of choice.
TSH June Newsletter
Hannah Hunter
6/20/2024
What Cultural Mountain is Yours?
Hannah Hunter
6/1/2024
Good News for all creation
Hannah Hunter
5/18/2024
Iron Rod
Hannah Hunter
1/13/2024
Betrayed
Hannah Hunter
1/8/2024
War Paused
Hannah Hunter
12/23/2023
A Song of Hope
Hannah Hunter
12/16/2023
Home
Hannah Hunter
12/2/2023
Touchstone
Hannah Hunter
11/25/2023
earthquake and gentle breezes
Hannah Hunter
11/18/2023
Bulwark and Fortresses
Hannah Hunter
11/11/2023
Thanksgiving of November
Hannah Hunter
11/4/2023
Angels in Africa
Hannah Hunter
10/31/2023
Northern Gate of Africa
Hannah Hunter
10/31/2023
Fires of Revival
Hannah Hunter
10/31/2023
The Scepter and the Rod
Hannah Hunter
2/6/2023
The Secret Place
Zachary Hunter
2/2/2023
Labeling People as False Prophets
Hannah Hunter
1/24/2023
Healing Rifts
Hannah Hunter
1/16/2023
Expect Angel Visitations
Hannah Hunter
1/9/2023
January 2023 Newsletter
Hannah Hunter
1/5/2023
Human Perfected
Zachary J. Hunter
9/27/2021
Something Different
Zachary J. Hunter
8/28/2021
God's Movement Week 4
Zachary J. Hunter
8/10/2021
God's Movement Week 3
Zachary J. Hunter
7/31/2021
God's Movement Week 2
Zachary J. Hunter
7/24/2021
God's Movement Week 1
Zachary J. Hunter and Hannah S. Hunter
7/14/2021
Be the Change
Zachary J. Hunter
5/27/2021
Our Pledge and Declaration
Zachary J. Hunter
1/28/2021
The Cup of Iniquity
Zachary J. Hunter
1/15/2021
The Father's Heart
Zachary J. Hunter
1/6/2021
Joshua and Caleb
Zachary J. Hunter
12/31/2020
Elijah
Zachary J. Hunter
12/18/2020
How Important is Worship
Zachary J. Hunter
12/11/2020
Believe
Zachary J. Hunter
12/2/2020
Our Focus
Zachary J. Hunter
11/24/2020
Taking a Beating
Zachary J. Hunter
11/11/2020
2020: American Presidential Election and Aftermath
Zachary J. Hunter
11/4/2020
Daniel 10
Zachary J. Hunter
10/28/2020
Daniel 9 and What it Means.
Zachary J. Hunter
10/22/2020
Respect for God's Authority
Zachary J. Hunter
10/15/2020
What It is to be a Seeker?
Zach J Hunter
10/8/2020
Non-Debate
Hannah S. Hunter
9/30/2020
Odyssey Observations
Hannah S. Hunter
9/11/2020
Miracles in Motion
Hannah S. Hunter
8/27/2020
Unplug and Reset
Hannah S. Hunter
8/20/2020
Set Apart Not Aside
Hannah S. Hunter
8/12/2020
Did I Really Say That?
Hannah S. Hunter
8/6/2020
Silence, Stillness, Solitude, the Secret Place, and the Supernatural
Hannah S. Hunter
7/30/2020
Supernatural Season
Hannah S. Hunter
7/21/2020
tachycardia
Hannah S. Hunter
7/16/2020
Peaceful Protest
Hannah S. Hunter
7/6/2020
Piercings
Hannah S. Hunter
7/2/2020
Unshareable Glory
Hannah S. Hunter
6/24/2020
Ancient Roots
Hannah S. Hunter
6/16/2020
Perfect Love
Hannah S. Hunter
6/9/2020
Mountains Tossed into the Sea
Hannah S. Hunter
6/1/2020
Genesis of Nations
Hannah S. Hunter
5/26/2020
Torchbearers
Hannah S. Hunter
5/18/2020
Trilling and Aflutter
Hannah S. Hunter
5/12/2020
Mchungaji
Hannah S. Hunter
5/5/2020
Mountain Top to Mountain Top in Lockdown
Hannah S. Hunter
4/29/2020
Observations from the Shadows
Hannah S. Hunter
4/21/2020
He Called It! His Fast!
Hannah S.Hunter
4/13/2020
When Being Passed Over is Good
Hannah S. Hunter
4/7/2020
Alternate New Normal
Hannah S. Hunter
4/2/2020
Nor'easter Wheels Within Wheels
Hannah S. Hunter
3/24/2020
Stillness- the posture of Reshaping and Remolding
Hannah S. Hunter
3/17/2020
Dwelling in the Everlasting Flow
Hannah S. Hunter
3/10/2020
Godly Reprimand, Removal of Shame, and Redemptive Restoration
hannah hunter
3/3/2020
Essential Oil is Love
hannah hunter
2/25/2020
Going Into the Deeper....
hannah hunter
2/17/2020
Feet of Your Soul
Hannah Hunter
2/11/2020
Activating Our Children
hannah hunter
2/3/2020
Vigilant Observations
Hannah Hunter
1/28/2020
Commander in Chief
hannah hunter
1/21/2020
Heights of Hope
Hannah Hunter
1/16/2020
Shepherds Shielding in Storms
Hannah Hunter
12/12/2019
Shepherds Shielding in Storms
Hannah Hunter
12/12/2019
How did Jesus Celebrate His Birthday on Earth?
Hannah Hunter
11/27/2019
Paul and Pauline in this Season
Hannah Hunter
11/19/2019
A Day in the life of an Expat in Kenya
Hannah Hunter
11/11/2019
Conquerors in the Nest
Hannah Hunter
10/30/2019
A Look at Fear
Zach Hunter
2/22/2019
The Beauty of the Cross
Zach Hunter
2/15/2019
Turning Disgust into Grace
Zach Hunter
2/8/2019
Take My Faith
Tyler Robertson
1/12/2019
Love is really REALLY hard (but totally worth it)
Zach Hunter
1/5/2019
Is He Lost or Am I?
Tyler Robertson
12/29/2018
Pointing Fingers
Zach Hunter
12/22/2018
Sold Out Slaves
Tyler Robertson
12/15/2018
Stirring Deep Wells
Tyler Robertson
12/1/2018
Seasonal Suffering
Hannah Hunter
11/24/2018
God's Play Room
Hannah Hunter
11/17/2018
Voting Day
Hannah Hunter
11/10/2018
Homework
Tyler Robertson
11/3/2018
The Way
Tyler Robertson
10/21/2018
Battle Fronts
Tyler Robertson
10/6/2018
True Love
Tyler Robertson
9/22/2018
Mapacha "The Twins"
Hannah Hunter
9/15/2018
Venomous Snakes Thwarted
Hannah Hunter
9/10/2018
In His Arms
Hannah Hunter
9/1/2018
Follow Love’s Thread
Hannah Hunter
8/25/2018
Remanded Rest
Hannah Hunter
8/18/2018
Clueless Obedience
Hannah S. Hunter
8/11/2018
Same Old Days
Tyler Robertson
8/4/2018
A Child of Mine
Tyler Robertson
7/29/2018
He is I Am
Tyler Robertson
7/24/2018
Joy's Calm
Tyler Robertson
7/7/2018
The Dire Hour
Tyler Robertson
6/30/2018
Joyful Warriors for the Kingdom
Hannah Hunter
6/23/2018
Daughters of the Mountain
Tyler Robertson
6/16/2018
Daniel and Malicious Intent
Hannah Hunter
6/9/2018
Forge Me
Tyler Robertson
6/2/2018
Grieving Grace
Hannah Hunter
5/26/2018
His Revelation
Tyler Robertson
5/19/2018
Micaiah - I Stand With Him!
Hannah Hunter
5/12/2018
The Sense of God
Tyler Robertson
5/5/2018
Removing Junk from your Treasure Chest.
Hannah Hunter
4/28/2018
To know the pain.
Tyler Robertson
4/21/2018
Meeting my Maker
Tyler Robertson
4/14/2018
Stop! In the name of Love!
Tyler Robertson
4/7/2018
For Such a Time
Tyler Robertson
3/31/2018
Rejoice in the Fear!
Tyler Robertson
3/24/2018
In the Blood
Tyler Robertson
3/17/2018
Can't Fight the Need
Tyler Robertson
3/10/2018
In Everything
Tyler Robertson
3/3/2018
Let Freedom Ring
Tyler Robertson
2/24/2018
IT'S Coming.
Tyler Robertson
2/17/2018
Nailed It!
Tyler Robertson
2/10/2018
Complacency Kills
Tyler Robertson
2/3/2018
Measure of Faith
Tyler Robertson
1/27/2018
Darkest of Nights
Tyler Robertson
1/20/2018
Destination: Church Unknown
Hannah Hunter
1/13/2018
Peace 2018
Hannah Hunter
1/6/2018
Blessed Are the Servant Healers
Hannah Hunter
12/30/2017
Honoring HIS Wishes
Hannah S. Hunter
12/23/2017
How is Your Shine?
Lori Meed
12/16/2017
Beatrice-Bringer of Joy
Hannah S. Hunter
12/9/2017
Smooth Stones
Tyler Robertson
11/18/2017
Littered Valley
Tyler Robertson
11/11/2017
What Happened to the Church?
Tyler Robertson
11/4/2017
Antithesis of Rage
Hannah S. Hunter
10/28/2017
Truth Prevails
Hannah S. Hunter
10/21/2017
False Pretenses
Hannah S. Hunter
10/11/2017
Eye of the Needle
Hannah S. Hunter
10/11/2017
Wells Every Where
Hannah S. Hunter
9/11/2017
Underestimated Army
Hannah S. Hunter
9/11/2017
Third World Eyes
Hannah S. Hunter
9/11/2017
Songs of Joy in Drudgery
Hannah S. Hunter
9/11/2017
Spirit of Sanballat
Hannah S. Hunter
8/11/2017
Guardian in the Night
Hannah S. Hunter
8/11/2017
Sacredness from Kenya’s Wilderness
Hannah S. Hunter
7/11/2017
Pause
Hannah S. Hunter
11/7/2016
Perception, Prayers and Purpose
Hannah S. Hunter
11/7/2016
Tribes
Hannah S. Hunter
11/7/2016
Take Courage!
Hannah S. Hunter
10/21/2016
Kenya Elections 2017
Hannah S. Hunter
10/12/2016
Define Rest and Refuge
Hannah S. Hunter
10/11/2016
Soaring or Sailing
Hannah S. Hunter
10/11/2016
Life Threatening Worms
Hannah S. Hunter
10/11/2016
Mapacha, The Twins, and Micronutrients
Hannah S. Hunter
10/11/2016
Angel Awareness
Hannah S. Hunter
10/10/2016
When Seasons Come Too Early
Hannah S. Hunter
8/6/2016
RVP (Restoration Village Project) Kilgoris, Kenya
Hannah S. Hunter
6/15/2016
Kinsman Redeemer
Hannah S. Hunter
1/23/2016
Free Flow, Clarity, and Airlift
Hannah S. Hunter
1/16/2016
Synergy
Hannah S. Hunter
1/9/2016
Wilderness Base Camp
Hannah S. Hunter
1/2/2016
The General’s Tent – 2015 Posts
Hannah S. Hunter
12/29/2015
Control Held by None
Hannah S. Hunter
12/25/2015
Qualifications for Vessels of Honor
Hannah S. Hunter
12/19/2015