The Value of Hanging Out

I have just spoken to a lady from Germany about her kids in college while my Lebanese friend was standing by. Both work at the local coffee shop where I am writing this piece. Just prior to that I spoke with other acquaintances from South Korea who own a T-shirt business at the city market downtown. Business is not so good for them right now, but they smile and talk with me most mornings I'm there.

I met yet another Korean worker at this shop this morning. It was our first actual discussion, although we had said hello from time to time. She has only been in the country for five months, and, much to my surprise, is a Sunday School teacher at the Korean church in town.

This is not all. Even earlier this morning I met my dentist for a time of mentoring right here in the same place. Prior to that I had a great talk with the building inspector for Parkville, the little town within Kansas City where I have my office. I met another friend and had some discussion about spiritual matters for a few moments prior that meeting. He manages the Christian bookstore. I had a brief "hello" with his wife as she came in later. And I at least got to wave to yet another friend who is one of the regulars at the shop. He's the local chiropractor.

Building relationships—this is the value of hanging out. I'm making a determined effort to do that, and I wish to recommend it to you. Not just any kind of hanging out will do, of course, but there is a purposeful hanging out that I believe God smiles on.

Not long ago I wrote this in my Commonplace Book, the notebook I use to record my observations from my reading and thinking: "It is an interesting question: What did Jesus do in a given week?"

That simple question was answered by going through the book of Matthew. I wrote fourteen pages of observations on the peripatetic life of Christ as to how Christ employed his time. As a conclusion to it all I had to say that Jesus basically just hung out. Of course, it was "divine" hanging out.

"This is so sad, that she died so alone," said one of her friends from years earlier. Danni (Dannell) Lites was well known to the comic book world, writing over 250 stories of comic book characters on three web sites. Over the web she conversed incessantly with fans of her writing. She was considered an expert in her genre. Yet, she never talked IRL, that is, "in real life."

Then she died. Unemployed, sick with diabetes, unclean, 49 years old, 4 feet 9 inches and 153 pounds. Alone.

Oh, she was a talker all right, but only in the nether world of the internet. An online admirer stated: "Although we talk all the time on our computers, we still don't know each other really." The truth is that Danni had checked out of the real world long ago, and life to her was mediated entirely through a 15 inch monitor. This was the only lens through which she related.

The Kansas City Star put out her story to see if she had any relatives or friends to bury her. No one called. And no one came to the graveside. Her burial was in a pauper's grave in Elmyra, Missouri. "She was as lonely as they come," reported her apartment manager.

Did Danni really live? It depends on your definition.

• A new piece from CCW, The Integrity of the Local Church, is now available to Christian leaders and interested laymen. If you are interested in seeing a copy, please let us know. The piece covers the church discipline instruction by Paul in 1 Corinthians 5. When God said, "Expel them from your midst," just what did he mean? We suggest that leadership groups read this piece together and discuss its implications for the church.
• The year ended for CCW in an encouraging way financially, thanks to the Lord and those who shared their gifts with us. We have a set policy not to ask for money, but to trust God who alone knows all our needs. He did not fail us. We are already ordering more materials with the monies sent to us. Our belief is that we should do with whatever God gives us and not go into debt. Though we send thousands of dollars of our materials out free of charge, God continues to supply us as He sees fit, but often just in time. He is never late.
• Jim and his two boys, Benjamin and Bryan, accompanied a dental team to the Dominican Republic on the 25th for eight days. They trained some children and teenagers, held a basketball clinic, evangelized and preached, etc., alongside the dental team. All together eleven workers went on the mission.
• Two new pieces in Ukrainian have been translated for our web site and for use in the Ukraine. See the "translated materials" section on our home page for details. Our materials have been translated in a variety of languages through the years. On the site we have Ukrainian, Spanish, Portuguese and Braille offered for some items.
• Our Narrow and Wide Gates art print is now being printed in Brazil for the FIEL publishers who have done three books from our ministry already. This ministry is the publisher of about 100 books for ministers in Brazil, Mozambique, Portugal, Angola, all Portuguese-speaking countries. They gather 1400 pastors and wives together each year in Brazil for a conference that Jim had the privilege of addressing a few years ago. This last year Jim went with FIEL to Portugal to minister to pastors.
• Our Zambian copies of Wasted Faith are going into the homes of all the pastors in the country. We recently got the list of Catholic priests as well! We're hopeful of printing other items soon. This was a printing of about 2500. Please pray that this project will continue and make a difference. We are hopeful that some priests and pastors will be converted and others will find the tool helpful for their ministries, will teach its contents, etc.
• The Elliffs survived the holidays, ate too much, enjoyed some relaxing family days, and got refreshed for the new start in 2003. We hope all of you are ready for the best year of your life! Happy New Year!