Beyond Borders

Grounds of the mission center ALEM, view from my house

Saturday Sunset at ALEM  

Visiting a church, and the kids were asking us to speak English to hear what it sounds like. 

ALEM (Evangelical Linguistic Missionary Association in English) is not only the name of the organization I´m with here, but além also means "beyond" in Portuguese. The motto of ALEM is "levando a Biblia alem das fronteiras" or "taking the Bible beyond the borders."

I spoke in a church last night about an experience I had while I was in México with my Aunt Bonnie. I was journaling about that day´s events, and just began to ask God question after question. One of them was "How did the other nations hear about you before Jesus´ birth?" How could they come to salvation? Immediately after setting down my pen, the book of Ezekiel popped into my head. Weird, I thought. Then, a second later chapter 36 came to mind. At the time, I hadn´t the slightest clue what Ezekiel 36 was about. So I ignited my Kindle fire to find out. In Ezekiel 36, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the nation of Israel that God will restore life and blessing to Israel after it had become oppressed by surrounding nations. Israel had been profaning God´s name among other nations, and God says to them specifically that He is not restoring them for their own sake, but His holy name´s sake:

22 “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.
24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:22-28 NIV)

I read the chapter and saw that "Then the nations will know that I am the Lord." is repeated three times...And that´s a promise.

How can I keep from praising a God who teaches me something even when I only understand about 15% of a sermon in Portuguese? How can I not seek a God who gets my attention no matter where I am on this earth, whether it be home in Washington, DC, Mexico City, or Brasilia? How can I not be humbled before a God who loves me even when my thoughts are far from Him? How can I not worship a God who offered me hope tonight in another language through an interpreter? How can I not magnify a God who surrounded me with wonderful, encouraging friends and role models here in Brazil who pray for me and care about me as if they´ve known me for years? He is praiseworthy. He reaches beyond borders--nations´ borders, cultural borders, and the borders of our hearts.