Jan. 1, 2007

The Messiah

Dear Friends,                                                                                           

No snow yet but it has gotten cold.   Recently, in a morning chapel time our friend Paul asked us to think about some of the changes that have occurred in the past year.   Abrams birth, counseling classes, coming back to Romania with two kids, Moise moving out, transitioning to working again at the drop in center programs, all flashed through my mind.    Through all these things I have a sense of God's presence, of His goodness to us as a family and as a community.  

Listening to a recording of Handel's Messiah as I painted the other morning, I was stunned like a deer in the headlights.   The meandering solos from scripture, "darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people", "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light", "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief ", "He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of Thy people was He stricken.", "He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn; the Lord shall have them in derision.", paint the dark backdrop.   Scripture is very real to the experiences of the majority of the world's population who suffer some form of poverty.  One is led into a remembrance of our own struggles, but also the suffering of the poor, our powerlessness, to fix the world or even ourselves.   Then Handel, shocks us awake in the darkness...

"Hallelujah: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord,
and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.
 King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  Hallelujah!"

For a few minutes we taste the end: justice on earth, an end to the suffering, Christ's final reconciliation of all things in Himself.   It is as if we get to experience the end of the marathon when we weren't sure the end was still possible.  

I am grateful.   I am grateful God has led us into this place.   We need to hear these stories, see the eyes, to be with those who suffer.   For an insulated western Christian who has always skipped to the Hallelujah chorus, I needed to take the time to listen to the story which has this beautiful chorus for its climax.   I am grateful for all of you who hold us up with your prayers, inspire us with your faith, and who give us the grace to step out as God leads us. 

I am ready to enter a new year hopeful, expectant, realistic, and with an eye to the finish line.    Thank you for your continued prayers.  

We have signed a precontract on buying a piece of land near the drop in center.    We are, by God's grace, going to build a duplex with Lau and Vali  (Romanian staff and friends) near the drop in center.    We look forward to living in the same neighborhood with many of the kids involved in the programs.  Please continue to pray for the boys on the streets, for Moise, Marius, and others who are flirting with street life.  We continue to post more frequent updates on www.monicaklepac.blogspot.com and www.artincommunityamongthepoor.blogspot.com.  

 

In Christ,

Joel for the Klepacs