Our last week in Texas was jammed pack full of stuff. As we approached the end of the month, our fundraising efforts were pretty remarkable given our actual number of participants. The goal was to have approximately $3,250 raised by the end of the May, which equated to one-third of the total amount needed to grant the wish. And, by the end of the month, we had close to $3,500… thanks to that $2,000 key chain! (At least something was going as planned… sort of.)
We were leaving Houston for the last time, making a quick stop in Austin and then finishing up our month long tour of Texas in the Dallas area.
We were heading back for two purposes: #1) Mark, one of the worship leaders at Austin New Church, invited our family to spend the night at his house while he and the kids wrote a song; #2) Jamie and I were having breakfast with the pastor (and his wife) of Austin New Church to talk to them about their immigration ministry. Needless to say, we were SUPER excited for a number of reasons.
First, let me talk to you about Mark. True story: When you ask my kids for their top five favorite people they’ve met on this trip, there are TWO people who make the list for all four of my children. Mark is one of them… and for good reason. I’m pretty sure I’ve NEVER met a nicer human being in my entire life. He’s one of the few people we regularly keep in contact with as we continue our travels. (That’s probably because he gave my kids an EPIC list of all the MUST SEE places across the country and I’m sure they send him pictures at every single one of them. He also taught them how to make “proper” English tea and our lives have never been the same since.)
And here’s another interesting fact: We hit a pivotal turning point during this visit with Mark. Within minutes of arriving at his place, we decided to head into town with him to visit some local hot spots. The boys hopped into Mark’s car and the girls stayed with us. As Jamie pulled off to get gas, I made a stunning realization. We LITERALLY let our boys get into a car with someone we didn’t know. (I mean, TECHNICALLY, we knew him… but not well!) I remember looking back at the girls and a momentary look of panic came across their faces, but then we all busted out laughing. Whether we liked it or not… we were officially missionaries. (A shout out to all our missionary friends who know what that means!)
But, here’s the thing about Mark: We NEED more people in the world like him. Period. He loved on our family. He baked with our kids and played games with us. After the little ones went to bed, it was probably midnight at that point, he stayed up and talked to us about church stuff. I shared with him my issues about Austin New Church and we wrestled through some of the theological tensions. We didn’t know each other well and we didn’t agree on some theological points, but our unity in Jesus was real. He was my brother in Christ. Period. The Lord was grafting another branch into our tree; He was growing our spiritual family in ways we desperately needed.
The following morning, Mark spent some time writing music with Sydney and Brayden while Jamie and I went to have breakfast with the pastor of Austin New Church and his wife. For the first time on this trip, I think Jamie was more excited about meeting with someone than I was. Of course, given his professional background, Jamie was incredibly interested in learning more about their immigration ministry and what was actually going on at the border. I was still wrestling through all my “liberal, progressive” theological issues with ANC, so I didn’t plan on talking too much.
But, that didn’t last long.
I feel like I could write so much about our breakfast meeting. But, for the sake of story progression, I’ll hold off on a few points for now. But, I will say this. Jamie and I consider ourselves pretty informed, especially given the fact that Jamie served as a federal DRUG prosecutor for the Department of Justice. When the constant pro-wall diatribe began taking over the media, specifically the misinformation about the way drugs come into the US from Mexico, Jamie’s level of irritation escalated to a place I had never seen before. (But, it’s a frustration I’ve become accustomed as the political climate has become increasingly toxic these past few months.)
Sitting there, listening to Jason and Ashley explain what was actually going on, it was hard not to become overwhelmed by the magnitude of work that needs to be done… and become downright irate with the lack of humanity in the systems we use to protect our country. (And just so we’re clear, this has nothing to do with the wall. Whether you’re for it or against it, our sense of decency should never be questioned. A Christian “pro-life” stance isn’t dependent of the color of your skin, your nationality, or you ethnicity. Pro-life is ALL life. Period. But, again… I’m getting ahead of myself.)
What I loved about Jason and Ashley were their hearts for their neighbors. They, and many others at their church, were fully invested in helping those seeking refuge. It challenged me. A lot. (But, I like to be challenged. I’m an 8 on the Enneagram.) They offered to connect us with some people actively engaged in ministry at the border and we hope to visit there in the New Year.
While 90% of our conversation focused on the issue of immigration and the Christian response to what was going on at the border, things took a decisive turn towards the close of our time together. I don’t really remember the context of the comment, but Jason made some reference to institutions, like Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) and Dallas Bible Church, and people associated with those institutions writing him off as a heretic because of his stances on certain theological issues. The reason I remember the comment was because I’m a graduate of DTS and we had visited Dallas Bible Church a few weeks before. (We were actually spending the night at the house of some of the founding members of Dallas Bible Church THAT night!)
I was quick to inform Jason that his assessment wasn’t entirely correct because I was sitting at the table with him. I wish I had a picture of his face at that moment. The temptation to jump head first into a potentially theologically divisive conversation/debate was more tempting than I care to confess. But, if I’m honest, so was the temptation to run as fast as I could away from the table. We had spent almost 90 minutes with two people who professed to believe in the same Jesus as me, but who were, quite literally, on the opposite end of almost every theological spectrum. In fact, the only common ground we really shared was our annoyance of Franklin Graham, but, in part, for different reasons. But, hey… I guess you have to start somewhere, right?
Jamie and I left breakfast and just sat in our car for a few minutes, trying desperately to process what was going on. How was it possible that we were having breakfast with, arguably, one of the most progressive pastors in the state of Texas… and then spending the night at the home of the some of the founding members of one of the most conservative churches in the state? What in the world was God trying to show us, or teach us?
We wouldn’t know the answer to that question for a few months, but there was a reason. A couple of days later, I sent Jason a text asking him to prayerfully consider being someone I reach out to when I want to wrestle through my questions about unity. I knew they likelihood of him agreeing was practically 0%, but the worst thing people can say is no. And we’ve heard that word so many times that it has no power over us. We’ve heard it so many times that we forgot what it sounded like to hear the word yes.
Which was Jason’s answer to my question.
Searching for Jesus in America 