Friday, July 1, 2011

Alongside

Today is the big barbecue for 500 people. The food is ready for grilling. We even have a small bus ready to get us there. It's time for something light-hearted for the Usu-iso community. 

Some aren't ready. How could they be? One out of every six people in the neighborhood is gone. 

All too many are missing. Mourning is hard enough when the body is found. But gone? How can grieving even start?

It feels almost petty to mention that buildings and homes are gone. Loss isn't measured in things. But please remember that the loss of a place cuts deep. 

These people are far from weak. They're rebuilding as best they can.

So this barbecue won't be a frolic. It'll be a chance for a broken community to be together. To have plenty of food. To check on each other. To start remembering that good things and good times can happen. That kids play, and strangers care enough to cater lunch. 

It's not time for a festival. But a light-hearted barbecue is not out of place. A bit daring, perhaps. Certainly bigger than we've ever handled before. 

Pray for those who come. Pray for the volunteers as we come alongside with meat and noodles and grilled corn and grated radish and all the other things that make a barbecue special. 

And most of all, pray gently for the wounded hearts who stay home today. 

We're starting our day with prayer too. Only God can pull this off. 

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