In this day and age, there is so much that causes us to think only for our own well-being. There is a tendency to want "the good life," however you may define it. Some people believe they are owed certain commodities. Some believe they have no responsibility to help others. Some believe they have to stay out of other people’s needs.

The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi is a prayer that helps us look beyond the typical desire for self-fulfillment and self-satisfaction. It helps us to realize that when we do our utmost to help others, we are also helping ourselves.

My previous two articles looked at the first portion of this prayer.

The second portion of this prayer begins with:

"O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console." If all your time is spent trying to find someone to make you feel better because of a challenging circumstance, you will be left wanting. But if you ask God for the strength to look beyond yourself to become a beacon of light and hope for another, you will actually be helping yourself as well!

This is not always easy to do, but very, very beneficial all the way around. One of the best ways for you to pull yourself out of a time of despair or gloom is to find someone who is in the same state as you and be present with them to help them out of their difficulty.

The prayer continues with, "To be understood, as to understand": Expecting others to understand you is a symptom of selfishness. It’s like all others have to bend to your ways in order to get along.

It’s actually a two-way street. One of the best ways to build relationships, to do away with animosity, to build trust is to understand what another is trying to convey.

Ask questions for clarification for better communication. Get to know another person and some of the circumstances in their life that cause them to act and react in certain ways. Don’t make assumptions about another. Seek to understand another and greater rewards will come.

The last installment on this wonderful prayer is coming next week.　

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: St. Francis prayer helps us look beyond ourselves

The other day I was waiting at a car dealership for them to finish a minor repair. As I sat in the waiting area I noticed a young man and woman with a relatively new baby.

They were talking with a sales representative. I couldn’t tell how far along in the negotiation process they were, but they seemed fairly well engaged.

After I enjoyed a small snack and a cup of coffee, I noticed this couple walking toward the door. Just outside the door was a beautiful white minivan. The huge smile on the young mother’s face told me they had just sealed the deal and purchased the vehicle.

As I watched, the smile never faded. Her husband got into the driver’s seat. The baby was secured in the back of the vehicle. Mom got into the passenger seat. As they got ready to drive away, there were smiles all around and off they went.

I was struck by the look of utter joy on the face of that young mother. It was like she had received a pearl of great price. Excitement as well as contentment seemed to flow from her.

That is the look I sometimes see on people’s faces when they come to realize they are truly loved by God. It is the look when our Lord enters their hearts and they realize all their past mistakes have been forgiven by God. It is the look of knowing you have received exactly what you needed all along and finally came to realize it.

Has that smile come across your face — the smile that demonstrates you know you are loved by God, that the Lord has entered your heart, that you know your past mistakes are forgiven?

If it has, you know to what I am referring.

If it hasn’t, perhaps now is the time to explore what it’s all about. Because what it comes down to is recognizing your true worth in the eyes of God. And that, my friend, is a gift really worth smiling about.

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Learn your true worth

CRESTVIEW — A survivor of the 1994 genocide and civil war in Rwanda, East Africa will speak at two local events on behalf of Operation Christmas Child, a program run by Samaritan's Purse.

Alex Nsengimana, 28,  will speak at 6 p.m. June 24 at Woodlawn Baptist Church, 824 Ferdon Blvd. N., Crestview. His second presntation is 10 a.m. June 25 at the Convergence Coffee House, 498 Wilson St N., Crestview.

"A lot of people here pack shoeboxes, but they never get a chance to see the other side, so we hope to share the impact of that shoebox…so that more people can get a chance to participate.

"Because each and every time a shoebox is packed, that's a chance for a child to receive a shoebox like I did. That's what I get a chance to do," he said. 

Creating new memories

A Samaritan's Purse video of Nsengimana's experiences during the war and his work with OCC is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo-oz_IYZWA.

Nsengimana, his brother Fils, and sister Lillian lived with their grandmother and two uncles in Kigali, Rwanda's capital. They saw two of them, his grandmother and one of his uncles, killed by their neighbors, members of the militia in Rwanda.

They were among almost one million people killed from April 6 through July 4, 1994, making over 400,000 children orphans.

Nsengimana and his brother came to live in an orphanage with 250 other children, and his sister lived with friends of the family.

They lived at the orphanage for several years, and it was where he received his OCC shoebox.

"I remember I was so excited, because we still had to hold it until everybody had got one, but for some of us we had to hold our presents for about five minutes, five long minutes," he said.

School supplies, hygiene items, toy cars, balls, coloring books, paintbrushes, and other items were inside.

"At 7 years old living in an orphanage, we really didn't have that many toys to play with, so the shoebox items brought us that joy. They reminded us that we are cared for—we are loved, and it gave us something to hold on to.

"And it planted new memories in our mind, because of what had happened during the war and what…was so traumatic that the shoebox became an opportunity to plant new memories in our lives."

The items themselves had lasting value for Nsengimana.

"One of my favorite items was a hair comb that I kept for the next three years … I would take it everywhere I went for the next three years. That's how special the items were." 

After Nsengimana and his siblings survived their experiences, two came to the U.S. He and his wife are Minnesota residents and his brother lives in Wisconsin. His sister lives in Rwanda with her family, including two sons.

"I'm a very blessed uncle and I get a chance to see them every time I go back," he said.

As an OCC spokesperson, he has met other shoebox recipients as well.

"It is so encouraging to see all of us shoebox recipients coming out and sharing a very unique story of how that shoebox made a difference in our lives, made an impact (and) launched a process in our lives of hope and love," Nsengimana said.

Since the OCC ministry started in 1993, volunteers have packed over 157 million shoeboxes and distributed them all over the world.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Christmas shoebox helped genocide survivor create new memories

CRESTVIEW — Milligan residents Kim and Rick Shelley are requesting prayers and support for their family and the people of Guatemala since the Fuego volcano erupted there June 3.

The couple has two sons, Chris, 30, a project manager who lives in Crestview, and Stephen, 27. Stephen and his wife, Michelle, are missionaries in Guatemala.

Kim, Rick and Stephen answered the following questions.

When you first learned your son was moving to Guatemala, how did you react?

KIM: At first, I didn’t want him to go because it is so far away. As his mom, I wished he lived closer, but I know God has called Stephen and Michelle to the mission field.

RICK: Stephen was called by God to the mission field back in 2014. He went on an 11-month mission trip called "The World Race" that took him to several countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America, including Guatemala. I remember being apprehensive, and prayed at first only for his safety, but one day stopped in mid-prayer. If I wanted him just to "stay safe," I should have tried to talk him out of going in the first place … Shortly after (the World Race and a) few months of training, he returned to Antigua, Guatemala, high in the mountains just west of Guatemala City. He has been there ever since.

How did you first hear about the Guatemala volcano?

KIM: We were talking with Stephen and Michelle on FaceTime right as the volcano was erupting! They were driving, held up the phone, turned the camera around, and their windshield was trying in vain to wipe away the volcanic ash.

RICK: Volcan de Fuego ("Volcano of Fire") is about 10 miles west of where Stephen and Michelle live … [They] were headed home due to respiratory and other concerns associated with the volcanic ash, but were not in any immediate danger otherwise. They described it as tiny rocks falling from the sky.

We checked back a couple of hours later, and they were hunkered down indoors until the ash fall stopped. Note that Antigua, Guatemala is on the east side of Volcan de Fuego; the devastation we have heard about and seen on the news is primarily on the west side, as the lava and pyroclastic flows head toward the Pacific Ocean.

How did you end up living in Guatemala? What do you do there?

STEPHEN: My wife and I both felt called to come to Guatemala when we were still single. (They met in 2016 and got married in Antigua in January 2018.) We both originally were sent through an organization called Adventures in Missions. We recently transitioned into a staff position with an international church plant called Shoreline City Antigua. Their main campus is in Dallas, Texas. We work with their church plant in Guatemala, Shoreline City Antigua. It launched officially about 15 months ago. We lead worship for the church, as well as are heading up the church's relief efforts in response to the eruption.

How much danger were you and the people you work with/assist in when the volcano erupted? How has it affected your day-to-day life there?

STEPHEN: The volcano erupted Sunday around noon. We were finishing our Sunday service in Antigua when ash and debris began to fall on the town for about an hour. We drove home through the ash fall thinking it was a bigger eruption than normal. (Fuego erupts often, but not at this magnitude.) We found out the next day that areas west of the volcano were hit hard and covered heavily from the pyroclastic flow (this is the fast moving mixture of rock, gas, and lava with scorching temperatures close to the eruption). Antigua is … still susceptible to more ash from further eruptions. Some major roads near the affected areas were closed for safety concerns as damage is still being assessed and rescue efforts continue.

What's the top priority for yourself and the mission organization you work for now?

STEPHEN: Over the next few weeks, we will be contacting disaster relief groups, as well as various other ministries and organizations, to see how we can best allocate any disaster relief funds we have collected. Shoreline City Dallas has set us up for people to give online toward our volcano relief fund.

How to help

Visit shorelinecity.church/pushpay and use the Guatemala Volcano relief tab to give easily and quickly online, Stephen Shelley said. All funds will go toward the relief efforts in helping Guatemalans who were affected.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Milligan couple requests prayer, support after Guatemala volcano erupts