scholar – Jerry Lout ⚬ Writer ⚬ Speaker ⚬ Mobilizer

January 23, 2025January 22, 2025

Treasured Exchange

Catastrophic grief, as many will testify, can paralyze. A numbness washing through one’s mind and body like the slow rise of an ocean’s tide. This may actually serve as a merciful buffer, sparing the person (for a time at least) an utter crushing of the soul.

When trauma with its disorienting shock floods in some find afresh that nothing substitutes for the gentle, anchoring calm of a close friend nearby.

When Henry drew his last breath at the traffic intersection, his precious Joyce was thrust into an upside down world of loss. From a mercy that heaven alone might supply, Joyce’s sense of desolation in this foreign country began easing. Juni, her American friend and fellow student, came to her aid.

What followed across the coming months and even into years ahead may be characterized as miraculous.

To the obvious question clamoring for answers, “How can good of any kind emerge out of such an evil-conceived nightmare?”, an other-worldly response would gradually emerge.

For those not having savored the tangible lovingkindness of God – whose sacrificial offering invokes levels of empathy defying description – simple language falls short.

Through Juni’s frequent presence and unimposing availability (shored up by a cadre of interceding teammates) the Spirit of comfort gained access to a traumatized, grief-stricken soul.

The precious scholar’s journey forward was marked by modest advances over long periods of time. One big setback involved a major crash when the car in which she was riding was rear-ended by a speeding motorist. This resulted in an extended hospital stay. Juni and friends, once again at her side.

Joyce found herself drawing upon the invisible strengths supplied from above through her forever sisters. She welcomed Christ himself into her life and into her story. He in turn granted, as scripture pledges, a treasured exchange. Beauty for ashes. The oil of joy for mourning (and even), the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.*

Jesus – man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.*

May 9, 2024

Poised

Mr. Tang’s baptism was warmly celebrated at our Thirty-fourth and Garnett Rd Church. Pastor Steve Morgan administering the sacred rite. The sacrament affirmed, as for so many others across the centuries, evidence of a brand new identity. Mr. Tang was a reborn creation, his old life yielded up in exchange for his new life of Christ within.

How wonderful of the Lord, bringing a precious man with essentially no knowledge of Jesus from the far side of the globe to this place – in this time – for this purpose.

People are different from one another. An understatement. In each of our world’s seven-billion-plus souls, there is written a unique human story. And, while every story varies, all our journeys pulse with deep yearnings. Amazingly, the Designer God who formed us can meet us where we are – poised and ready to lead us toward himself. Some of our personal narratives may feature, as with Mr. Tang, a case of disentangling from chemical substances. Step by slow step our transformation gains traction. We may suffer setbacks. He is faithful still.

For others, the prevailing vice is the obsessive drive to excel in education or business. Human beings have a notorious capacity for succumbing to hard-driving taskmasters.

Our friend, Nguyen, from Southeast Asia pursued a common aim in the world of higher education, to advance as a leading scholar in his chosen field.

One evening at the student activities center an English conversation volunteer introduced Nguyen to a series of fantasy pieces. One of these featured a wardrobe and a lion and a witch. Nguyen’s own narrative was poised to turn a corner.

April 25, 2024April 24, 2024

Taste Sampler

Puzzling or Amusing, which is it? Both perhaps. . .

Cross-cultural workers meet up with any number of puzzlements, leaving one off balance enough to keep the journey intriguing.

The slight-of-body PhD scholar smiled sheepishly as he related a kind of tug-of-war he was in with their nine-year-old daughter.

“Jerry, you know that Bible for children, the one with many pictures that you gave us?”

Noting my nod, Mr. Tang went on. . .

“Well, my daughter and I, we fight over it. She finds the book very interesting, and so do I! So, when she is reading it, I want to read it, and also the other way around.”

For those like me, not raised in a society where the world’s most popular (international best-seller-book ever) is virtually a banned product, the reaction is astonishment.

It is remarkable really. How could a brilliant scholar with multiple degrees to his name find such a widespread piece of famous literature nearly inaccessible?

The entrance of your word gives light*

At Mr. Tang’s tug-of-war description, I couldn’t help smile. The mental image of a distinguished petroleum engineer husband and father pitted in a feisty back-and-forth with his fourth-grade daughter over the Holy Bible. Amusing to be sure. Yet, moments later the weightier, more sobering implication settled in.

Here is nine-year-old Angie, brought by her warm-hearted and, yes, atheist parents to the Land of the Free.

Angie (perhaps from simple curiosity at this point) yearns to take in the stories of God and Jesus. This, while her mother and father – grappling with the thousand adjustments called for in adapting to a new land and culture – carry their own yearnings. Daddy himself nurtures an appetite of some kind or other sufficient to sneak in bits of Bible reading during moments when his daughter isn’t on guard.

Can this household – others as well – be gently introduced to further samplings of the life-giving Word? Lead us, Father.