Halloween or All Saints?

This is a true story. You can decide which day it suits better: All Hallow's Eve or All Saints' Day.

Lidia* was the oldest "sister" in a Baptist church in Moldova. Like many Romany in her village, she lived in a sort of compound with several houses built around a small yard. Her grown children lived around her and looked after her. However, her grown children did not share Lidia's new-found faith. On the surface, they were Eastern Orthodox. In reality, they followed Romany traditions which focus around gathering baxt (good fortune) and avoiding things that would drive away baxt. Part of this included honoring the dead. Graves are dug twice as deep as normal and first filled with all kinds of luxurious drinks, from cartons of juice to vodka and wine. Then all kinds of fruit is added. Not just common variety garden fruit, but imported fruits like pineapples and kiwis. All that extra space is filled with grave goods, rather like a pharoah's tomb. The funeral is also elaborate with a procession through the village. Family members will have stockpiled gifts like blankets. Periodically the procession pauses to that these can be distributed among the village, ideally to the poorer households. This does not end with the burial. There are well-maintained picnic tables with benches in the graveyard for future times of remembrance. As older church members generally do, Lidia eventually passed away. Her family was distraught with grief, as families generally are. The Baptist pastor was waiting to see what they would do. He knew and the family knew that Lidia had wanted a Christian funeral. The night after Lidia's death, her eldest daughter had a vivid dream. Lidia came to her. Lidia said that she was in a beautiful place. She described how wonderful it was. She said "your father," her husband, was there, too. She hoped that each of her children and grandchildren would join them there some day. And she wanted a Christian funeral. All of her children heard about this message from their deceased mother. Lidia had a Christian funeral. May her children follow her in the choices they make. *Name changed for privacy reasons.

She Had a Dream about Her

Speaking of dreams, Jesus doesn't always have to appear in a dream to speak through a dream. A case in point would be my friend Linda* and Jenny*, a young intern. Linda works with a different mission organization and was mentoring a young couple on the field. This young couple had been serving long enough to request a two-year intern. Jenny answered the call. But once she showed up, she didn't seem to know how to live out that call. She didn't do what the young couple requested. She didn't take initiative to do anything else. Linda offered to have Jenny help with Linda's work. Jenny showed up, but she never showed up prepared. Linda was ready to send her home, but Jenny was not her intern. And the young couple kept saying, "Let's give her a little more time. Jenny can develop. She can grow into the work." Jenny didn't. Finally the young couple also came to the conclusion that Jenny should go home. They asked Linda to be in prayer with them on the day they were going to have to tell her this. Jenny came to the meeting and announced, before the young couple had a chance to say anything, "I believe the Lord intends for me to go home. Linda appeared to me in a dream last night and told me so." Truly, the Lord moves in mysterious ways . . . . *Names changed to protect privacy. **The two-year intern in this photo definitely DID know what to do. Everyone wanted her to stay longer!