Without America

One morning in 2009, I woke up with the first stanza of this poem on my mind. I quickly wrote it down, and the rest soon followed. 

Perhaps today as the nightly news is filled with the haggling of potential presidential candidates, it's time to remind ourselves again of what America has stood for through the years.

 WITHOUT AMERICA
by AnnaLee Conti

On river banks no "alabaster cities gleam"
Because on barren shores no Pilgrim Fathers' dream
Resulted in great sweat and toil
To coax food and shelter from the soil
To establish a fledgling colony,
An experiment in democracy.

No Declaration of Independence
That certain rights are granted us by Providence;
No freedom of worship, speech, or press
In our Constitution were addressed;
No struggle for equality;
No wars to tear down tyranny.

No "shining city upon a hill,"
No vision to the world to spill
That man his own dreams can fulfill
For better or worse, for good or ill;
The world without America's ideal
Would certainly have a much darker feel.

Without a Statue of Liberty
To welcome those in poverty,
Without our inventions in technology
And medical aid to the world's society,
The earth without America's grace
Would be a less hospitable place.

Yet we've somehow lost our way,
And now the news reports each day
The rampant greed and shocking strife
And a less gentle way of life,
Of which I want to have no part,
And that surely saddens my heart.

The only solution I know that is real
Is to return to God with a great zeal.
To repent of all our self-centered ways,
And seek His guidance all of our days.
For then He will hear in heaven, and
He'll forgive and heal our beloved land.

© AnnaLee Conti, 2009 

- See more at: http://annaleeconti.com/journal.html#sthash.KFbWtkd9.dpuf

Peace in the Midst of Storm

Among my collection of nautical things, I have a small picture of Warner Sallman's painting, Christ Our Pilot, mounted on a miniature ship's pilot wheel, of Jesus standing behind a young man who is piloting a ship. With one hand on the young man's shoulder, Jesus is pointing out the direction with His other hand.

Warner Sallman's "Christ Our Pilot"

The picture reminds me of my favorite hymn while growing up on the sometimes treacherous waterways of Alaska's "Inside Passage," where my uncle operated a mission boat:

Jesus, Savior, pilot me,

Over life's tempestuous sea;

Unknown waves before me roll,

Hiding rock and treacherous shoal;

Chart and compass come from Thee;

Jesus Savior, pilot me.

--Edward Hopper

This story that Robert Louis Stevenson delighted in telling of a ship tossed in a storm reminds me of my uncle skillfully piloting his mission boat past reefs and submerged mountain peaks rising from the sea floor: 

The sea was rough, and the rocky coast perilous. Danger was real, and the seamen expected the worst. One frantic sailor, who was laboring below the waterline, could contain himself no longer. He rushed to the wheelhouse, closed the door behind him, and stood frozen with fright, watching the captain wrestle with the wheel that controlled the huge ship.

With skill of mind and strength of hand the captain guided the vessel through the threatening rocks into open water. Then the captain turned slightly, looked at the frightened sailor, and smiled.

The youth returned below deck. "The danger is over," he assured the crew.

"How do you know?" they asked.

"I have seen the face of the captain, and he smiled at me," he said.

Just as I trusted my uncle, I know I can trust Jesus to pilot me safely when the storms of life cause me to reel and stagger. I know that if I can but catch a glimpse of Jesus my Captain's face, all will be well. He can calm my storms with His whispered, "Peace, be still!" What a blessing to be able to trust Him to bring me safely into harbor!

What storm are you facing today? Jesus wants to give you His peace in the midst of your storm. Just turn the wheel of your life over to Him, and He will guide your vessel through the rocks and reefs, the wind and waves that threaten. Let Him plot your course. He knows the way because He has navigated it before us and has charted the way in His Word.

Empty Bins

My grandparents, Charles and Florence Personeus, who went to Alaska as pioneer missionaries in 1917, were greatly influenced by accounts of the faith ministry of George Mueller (1805-1898), an evangelist and director of a large orphanage in England (see previous posts). When Mueller's orphanage had a need, he did not ask people for aid but took it directly to God in prayer.

Charles & Florence Personeus
Married April 5, 1916

A little more than a year after the newly married Personeuses arrived in Alaska, a deadly flu epidemic struck Juneau. Schools were closed, all public meetings were cancelled, and quarantine signs were placed on the door of every house where someone was sick. Many people died.

When the epidemic finally ended, many children were left without a mother or father, so the Personeuses started a children's home.
The Personeuses had little money to support the children's home, but they trusted God to supply the needs for rent of a big house, coal for heat, and food and clothing for the children.

Soon, they had many mouths to feed. Twice a week, Mrs. Personeus had to bake 18 loaves of bread. That required a lot of flour, which they kept in a large bin.

One morning, Mrs. Personeus prepared to bake bread, only to  discover that the flour bin was empty. When she told her husband, he took out his wallet and showed her it was empty too.

Then, Mr. Personeus discovered that the coal bin was nearly empty too. In Alaska, that was serious. The temperature outside often went way below freezing during the long winters months. Even in the summer, it was too cool to go without heat in the house.

Remembering how George Mueller had led his orphans in prayer when they needed food for breakfast and the Lord had supplied, Mr. Personeus asked his wife, "Can you sing the Doxology over these empty bins?"

"I can," she answered.

They gathered the children together and explained, "We don't have any flour for bread or coal for heat."

The children's eyes opened wide. A few of the little ones even began to cry.

"Don't cry or be afraid," Mr Personeus said. "Remember, God is our Heavenly Father. He knows what we need. He will take care of us. We're going to sing the Doxology and praise God for the supply of all our needs."

They trooped to the flour bin, joined hands, and began to sing, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow...." They sang the Doxology again around the coal bin. The children left for school, and the Personeuses went about their duties for the day, trusting God to supply their needs.

Mid-morning, Mrs. Personeus heard a knock at the door. A man she didn't know stood there carrying a huge sack of flour. "Thought you might be able to use this," he said as he carried the sack into the kitchen. Then, he brought in a second sack of flour.

"Oh, thank you!" Mrs. Personeus said. "It's just what we need!"

A little while later, another knock sounded at the door. "I have a load of coal for you," said the man.

"But we didn't order any coal today," Mrs. Personeus told him.

"I know, but this coal is for you, and it's all paid for." And he proceeded to fill up the coal bin.

The Personeuses never did learn who had provided the flour and coal that day, but what a time of praise and thanksgiving they had after school when they all gathered around full bins and again sang, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow..."!

Has God ever supplied a need of yours in answer to prayer? I'd would love to hear about it.

(More stories of the Personeuses' 65 years in Alaska are recorded in my book, Frontiers of Faith, available at www.annaleeconti.com and Amazon.com.)

The Man Who Lived by Faith

George Mueller supported and influenced a missionary named Hudson Taylor. As a boy, Hudson loved to listen to his father, a Methodist preacher, talk about China. "Nearly every person there can read. We should flood China with Bibles," he often said.

Twelve-year-old Hudson spoke up. "When I'm a man, I want to be a missionary and go to China."

Hudson's father had prayed for a son who would be a missionary, but he had given up that dream when Hudson was born sickly. The family merely smiled at his declaration.

Hudson Taylor (1832-1905)

But when Hudson grew up, he did go to China as a missionary. He studied medicine, read books about China, and even tried to teach himself Chinese. At the age of 21, with promise of support for his work, he left England on the sailing ship Dumfries.

The first few days out a terrible storm nearly wrecked the ship on the rocks. When the storm finally abated, the ship sailed south around Africa and India then up towards Shanghai, China.

Just off the coast of New Guinea, the wind suddenly died down completely. The ship drifted helplessly, closer and closer to New Guinea. Hudson could see people on shore dancing excitedly and pointing toward the ship as they gathered wood for fires.

The people on the ship soon realized that cannibals were preparing to eat them for dinner. Closer and closer they drifted. Not the slightest hint of a breeze stirred the sea. Finally, the captain begged Hudson to "please pray for God's help. Please pray for wind."

"I will," said Hudson, "on one condition. You must set your sails to catch the breeze."

"But the crew will laugh at me for setting the sail in a dead calm."

Hudson was adamant. "I will not pray for wind unless you prepare the sails."

Glancing at the cannibals, the captain finally gave the order to set the sails. Hudson went to his stateroom to pray. Shortly, a knock sounded at his door. The captain's voice asked, "Are you still praying for wind? If so, you'd better stop. We have more wind than we can manage."

When Hudson went up on deck, he learned that the ship had been only 100 yards off shore when the wind began to blow. If the captain had not set the sails before Hudson began to pray, it would have been too late.

Hudson Taylor went on to become a missionary of great faith. In spite of a lot of sickness, he worked for God in China until he died at the age of 73. He was the first Protestant missionary to go to inland China and organized the China Inland Mission Society to take the gospel to the 400 million Chinese who had never heard about Jesus.

Hudson and his missionaries dressed and lived just like the Chinese. They didn't want anything to stand in the way of telling them about Jesus. They trusted God to supply all their needs. Hudson used to say, "Nothing is too trivial for us to take to a father." And that is how he prayed--like a child talking to his Heavenly Father.

Hudson used to give food to the poor and needy until even he had no more to eat. Other missionaries thought he was crazy, "living hand to mouth," they said. "Yes," Hudson would say, "from God's hand to my mouth."

One day the cupboard was bare, and their money was gone. Hudson and his coworker tried to sell things to buy food with no success. They began to pray. While they were still on their knees, the servant ran in. "Teacher! Teacher! Here are letters!"

The mail had come in days before it was expected, bringing money from a friend in England. Their Heavenly Father had not forgotten His children.

Stories like these nurtured my faith as a young person. I too have seen God's miraculous answers to prayer in my life. I have told many of them in my blog posts and will continue to write more.

What stories have nurtured your faith? I'd love to hear about them.

Three Tips to Answered Prayer from George Mueller

One of the mightiest men of prayer from the 19th Century was George Mueller. (See his story in my previous post.) In the last sixty years of his life (he lived to be 92 or 93), he received through prayer alone the English equivalent of $7,200,000.00 by the 1924 value of the dollar.

George Mueller  (1805-1898)

That money enabled him to build an orphanage of five large buildings that cared for and educated more than 10,000 children, establish 117 schools which offered Christian education to more than 120,000 children, sail around the world on a missionary evangelistic tour, and support Hudson Taylor, missionary to China, and other faith missionaries.

Here are three of his prayer practices that brought such phenomenal results:

1.  He searched the Scriptures for a promise that covered the situation. 

Before Mueller prayed for anything, he first searched the Bible for a promise that covered his need. According to R. A. Torrey in The Power of Prayer, sometimes Mueller searched for days before he presented his petition to God. When he found the promise, he'd place his finger upon it, and begin to plead that promise. He always prayed with an open Bible in front of him.

As James 4:3 says, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures" (NKJV). But when you pray the will of God, you receive what you ask. That is why Mueller always received what he asked for--because he would pray the will of God as expressed in God's promises.

2. He always meditated on Scriptures before prayer.

Mueller discovered that after meditating on Scripture, he experienced a more meaningful prayer time.
He experienced the truth of what William Bridge, a Puritan writer, said: "Reading without meditation is unfruitful; meditation without reading is hurtful; to meditate and to read without prayer upon both is without blessing."

According to Donald S. Whitney in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Christian meditation, that is, thinking deeply on Scripture, is "the missing link between Bible intake and prayer." He believed that the secret to George Mueller's prayer life was his discovery of the connection between meditation and prayer. After meditating on Scripture, he was more able to experience a meaningful prayer time.

3. He never gave up until the answer came.

Mueller prayed for two years before God sent him enough money to build the first home to house 300 children. He prayed for seven more years for enough money to construct the next two homes. The Apostle Paul wrote, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17). Mueller did, and he never gave up!

The Man Who Knew How to Pray

It was time for breakfast in the orphanage at Ashley Downs, England, but there was no food. Not only was there no food in the kitchen, but there was no money is the home's account.

A small girl, whose father was a close friend of Mueller, was visiting in the home. The director, George Mueller, took her hand. "Come and see what our Father will do."

Dining Room at Ashley Downs

In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and mugs. Mueller prayed, "Dear Father, we thank You for what You are going to give us to eat."

Immediately, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. "Mr. Mueller, I couldn't sleep last night. Somehow I felt that you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up a 2 o'clock and baked fresh bread. Here it is."

Mueller thank him and gave praise to God. Soon, a second knock was heard. It was the milkman. "My cart has broken down in front of the orphanage. I want to give the milk to the children so I can empty the cart and repair it."

Why could George Mueller pray with such confidence? Because God had taken care of the children many times previously.

George Mueller (1805-1898)

George was born in Prussia (now Germany). His father gave him a lot of money, but George spent it in "riotous living," just as the Prodigal Son in Jesus' parable. One night, a friend invited him to a meeting at a house. George didn't know it was a prayer meeting. As he listened to the Bible reading , he felt conviction and repented of his sins. For this first time, he felt true happiness. He studied for the ministry and went to England as an evangelist.

There, he discovered many homeless children. As he prayed asking God what he could do for them, he knew God would help him provide a home for them. Although he had told no one of his plans, people began sending him dishes, furniture, bedding--all the things he would need to start a home for orphans, including money for rent and workers to help care for the children. And Mueller scrupulously sent receipts to all donors.

But more needy children kept asking him to help them. Soon, he was renting four houses and caring for more than 100 children. Neighbors began to complain about so many children.

Mueller began to pray for land in the country. For 35 days he prayed every morning that God would send him the money he needed. On the 36th day, people began to send him the money. In two years, he had built a home large enough to house 300 children.

Five new Orphans' Homes at Ashley Downs, England

More children asked for help. In the next few years, Mueller prayed for the resources needed to build a total of five homes that could feed, house, and educate 2,000 children. It took a lot of food and clothing to provide for that many children. When Mueller ran out of money, he'd pray. God never let the children go hungry.

My grandparents, pioneer missionaries to Alaska, often spoke of George Mueller. He never asked for money or financial support for his work of housing, feeding, clothing, and educating more than 10,000 orphans in his lifetime. In addition, he traveled around the world doing missionary work. He only prayed to God for the supply of his needs for his ministry.

My grandparents too practiced living by faith just as he did. As a young person, I read biographies of many great men and women of God--Martin Luther, John Wesley, Adoniram Judson, David Livingston, Mary Slessor, David Brainard, Dwight L. Moody, to name a few. My grandparents' stories and these stories of men and women of faith influenced me to dedicate my life to full-time Christian service too. And God has supplied all our needs.

How has God met your needs? I'd love to hear your stories.

Do You Smell Like a Rose?

I love roses! This year, the roses in front of my house have been flourishing. One bush that we thought was dead has been particularly spectacular. This spring, we pruned it down to a few inches. Soon, it put out new branches, and ten gorgeous roses bloomed on that one bush at one time.

Rose and bud from my garden

Recently, I came across a an interesting story about roses. At one time, the Balkans supplied 1,000 roses a week for the kings of Europe. Growers were required to go through a seven-year training period.

They learned that roses, to be at their best, must be picked between midnight and 3 a.m. but never when the moon was full. Roses must always be picked when it was the darkest. No flashlights could be used because any light would change their disposition.

So, how could the growers find the roses that were ready to be picked? By the full development of the fragrance!

G. Campbell Morgan, a well-known preacher of years gone by, tells of visiting in the home of a friend. In one room he always detected the fragrance of roses. One day, he asked his friend, "How is it that I never come into this room without smelling roses?"

His friend smiled. "Ten years ago I was in the Holy Land, where I bought a small phial of attar of roses. It was wrapped in cotton wool. As I was standing in here unpacking it, I accidentally broke the bottle. I took the whole thing, cotton wool and all, and put it into this vase."

That fragrance had so permeated the clay of the vase that it was impossible to enter that room without smelling the scent of roses.

A rose from my garden

Christ is called the Rose of Sharon. When He truly dwells in us, His fragrance will pervade and permeate our whole lives so that we are like a "sweet smell that spreads everywhere, [and] God uses us to make Christ known to all men" (2 Corinthians 2:15, NIV). The more time we spend in His presence, the more fragrant our lives become.

Just as the fragrance of roses comes to full development in the dark, it is in our darkest hours in the trials of this life that we give off the sweetest fragrance of Christ abiding in us. I want to remember that when hard trials come my way.

As rose petals are crushed, the fragrance is released. As the trials crush us, what is inside us becomes apparent to all.

When I am jostled or crushed, I want the life-giving perfume of Christ to be released from my innermost being? How about you?