Eugene Peterson says, "Stories are verbal acts of hospitality." Thank you Ekko for being so hospitable and letting me "come by" and spend some "quality time" with you via the stories you send me. I am praying with and for you. We are all in this together, for the glory of God in our time.(May God bless and encourage you as you read the testimony below.)
“Dear PB,
After your message on Sunday, I was thinking about something you said early on; how you and the staff enjoy hearing stories from the people in your congregation, and how God is moving in their lives. In my mind, I was always worried that there’d be more important, pressing issues for you to attend to so I never really shared much with you except for that one time we got lunch at the Burger Parlor in DTF. So I figured I’d take up your offer and send you an e-mail.
It’s been an interesting 2015. I remember when I first started receiving acceptances for graduate school; it was this time last year. I was so happy to be going to graduate school, yet the more acceptances I received, the more I wondered where should I go? Then one night I had a dream where I was walking on a concrete pathway, and in front of me was a t-intersection in the path. At that junction, was a small elevated grassy patch with three benches on it in a circle. To the right were 2-story campus buildings, and behind the benches was a large lake… beyond that, an open expanse of water. I went around to all the campuses with this image in mind, and though none fit it perfectly, Cornell and UCSB were the closest. But I also remember when visiting UCSB, I was overcome with strong emotion, one that tugged on me and said you should go here, you should go here and in doing so, still attend Ekko, to be a part of the church. Hence, choosing UCSB and choosing to make the trip down to Ekko every Sunday.
I will admit though, it hasn’t been easy. There are weeks where I look around at the church and wonder, why am I doing this? Even after over three years of going to Ekko, I still feel like I don’t have close friends outside of the few from UCI’s IV that still attend. And even then, it’s been harder to keep in touch with them and with others at Ekko, and the distance doesn’t help.
But there are also weeks when I feel the love of the church expressed through even small ways like people offering me their houses to stay at, to people picking me up from the train station, or even stopping to pick me up on the road when they see me walking. There are times when people invite me out to eat with them while I try to find a way to pass time before my train. All of this makes me feel loved, but I wonder sometimes, should I invest in a local church in SB? Then people I confide in remind me of the emotions that overcame me at UCSB, and the tug I felt to keep going to Ekko, and I remain. I don’t know why God is doing this, but I was reminded, edified, and encouraged by your message on Sunday to keep on being faithful, to keep on working on myself, and following what I feel like is God’s call on my life.
On top of that, right around when I started school at UCSB, I felt God was calling me to give what I had budgeted for saving for retirement to a couple I know from my time up north, a couple that I call my second set of parents. The wife was stricken with cancer in her early 30’s and now, after 8 years, it’s taken a turn for the worse, to the point where neither works; her husband quit his job so he can take care of her full time. So at the beginning of fall quarter, I wrote them a check, and God has helped me in ways I didn’t know He could. At the end of the quarter, I found I had enough leftover to put what I had wanted into my retirement account. And then at the beginning of winter quarter, my parents give me cash for Christmas in the exact amount I had wrote them another check for. I didn’t tell my parents how much I was giving them, but somehow they gave me what I was giving away. I don’t know where God is leading in this either, but to be moving in His faithfulness without a light at the end of the tunnel is trying, but exciting at the same time.
Soli Deo gloria. Onwards to see what God has in store.
See you Sunday...”