A Kairos Moment

by: Ann Gibert

Scripture passages are portions of 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath, and 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

     The story of David and Goliath is familiar to most of us, since it has always been a popular one for Sunday school, vacation Bible school and other child-friendly programs. Who doesn't like a story of a little guy beating up on the bully everyone is afraid of? But there is a “backstory” to David and Goliath which is my focus. At the time of the story, the nation of Israel, led by King Saul, was at war with the Philistines, whose champion was Goliath. David was not even in the army – he had just arrived with a care package from home for his brothers when he heard Goliath's challenge and offered to take him on. Hold that thought, and think about the language in the passage from 2 Corinthians referenced above. When we translate Greek into English, we have only one word for “time”. The Greeks had two – chronos and kairos. Chronos is easy for us to understand – chronology, chronological and chronometer all come from this Greek root. Chronos is “time” in the sense of measured time. But there is another kind of time, kairos time. This is usually translated into English as “at the right time” or “at the appointed time”. When you say something like, “I met my boyfriend at just the right time”, you are talking about kairos. Think of your life as a timeline. On one end, you're born, and on the other, you die. In between you can log in all sorts of details, like the schedule from the calendar on your phone, but if you write a timeline for your life, you will find there are certain times that stand out. Maybe they didn't stand out then they happened, but now you look back and think, “Aha!”. Kairos moment.

     The rest of this story is about an ongoing series of kairos moments that have been happening in Huntersville recently. If you're reading this, it's because you know a little bit about who Betty Patterson is and what happened to her. When this series of events began, I didn't know a thing. That is where I need to start.

     For ten years, groups of youth and adult leaders have descended upon our church and our community to help owner-occupiers rehab their homes. We've done roofs, porches, additions, floor joists, flooring, plumbing, bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms and ramps, lots and lots of ramps. Because of issues beyond our local church, this will be our last time to host this program. Jerry Kita and I were talking about how it would be a shame to have folks with all these skills and nowhere to put them to work, and about the confidence and community that had grown among the participants over the years. I remember saying a variation of “When God closes a door, he opens a window”, which, given that this was a construction ministry, I thought was both appropriate and punny.

     A few weeks later, Jerry called and told me that Betty Patterson's house had burned down. My reasonable response was to ask, “And who is Betty Patterson?” Betty is a homeowner in the Huntersville community, and she was on our list to have her roof repaired during our July 2012 camp. Because her roof was in such bad shape, her insurance had been cancelled. We were planning to repair the roof so she could get coverage again. We were a few weeks too late.

This is background for the story of the kairos moments.

     First, Betty normally takes a nap in the afternoon in a room that would have had no exit except through the fire. But that day, she went out to run an errand. She came home to a burning house, and the presence of the pastor of Hopewell Presbyterian Church, Allan Purtill, who happened to be driving by and stopped, like Mayor Cory Booker, to make sure everyone was safe. That kind pastor stayed to comfort Betty, and heard from her the story of how we (the folks at Huntersville UMC) were going to fix her roof. He called our senior pastor, who called Jerry, who called Mona, who arrived at Betty's house before the fire trucks left. That night, a cryptic message went up on Facebook to pray for one of our homeowners. The following morning, Frank Green, a veteran of our camp, called and said, “We need to build this lady a house.” It's what we were hearing too, and getting this confirmation was both a good and a scary thing. We've never done this before. From scratch. Without funding from somewhere. Help!

 

     The pastor of Hopewell Presbyterian called Jerry and told him that since he was there when the fire started, he thought that meant that he and his church should help us help Betty. We reached out to Habitat for Humanity, and they responded with a generous offer to share house plans, contractor info and skilled labor for the build. We had a meeting, and began to develop a plan.

     The first roadblock would be testing the site for asbestos, which would determine the ease and the cost of demolition. The morning following that meeting, our friend from China Grove called Jerry and said that he had been thinking we should have the site tested for asbestos (lol) and that he had someone who would test it free.

     Two weeks later, at our next meeting, several more kairos moments had occurred. Jerry got an e-mail from one of the women Betty works for (she's a housekeeper) offering her help and the help of some people at her business. We invited her to come to the meeting. Our friend, Frank Greene, from First United Methodist in China Grove came, bearing good news (we think) about the asbestos testing, as  was a member of Hopewell Presbyterian, my husband (he's the legal/fundraising advice guy) and two people from Habitat. One of them is a trained site leader who grew up in these parts and, wait for it, Betty worked for his parents. He had already been to check out the site and to talk to her before he knew what we were planning.

     At the end of that meeting, we had assigned some tasks/roles to different folks at the meeting, and agreed on the next steps, which included talking to a church member about serving as a bookkeeper for the project and clearing what we were doing with Betty. The next morning, I really needed to get out of town for the Methodists' Annual Conference, but I had to go by the church office before I left. Who should walk in but the church member I needed to talk to about the bookkeeping. Do I need to tell you she said yes?

     Our other big concern was how to go about raising the money we need. We estimate that even with donated labor, the cost of materials and permits will be as much as $65,000. That's a daunting number. I prayed all the way to Conference and back about this. I wasn't feeling well the last morning, so I opted to come home early. I arrived this past Friday afternoon, and after a nap, was beginning to feel a bit better. I felt a LOT better after a member of the Davidson College community called to tell me that she had been calling all the people she knew of whom Betty had worked for, and had a list of contacts who would be willing to donate. She also had someone who was willing to write and mail the letters!

Did I mention that Jesus wants us to build this lady a house?

I preached at Huntersville UMC this past Sunday, and told this story, and the kairos moments keep on happening. After the first service, a VERY excited youth practically pinned me to the wall to find out how she could help, and she ran off to find her grandmother, who, the night before, had mentioned that she was getting ready to redecorate her living room and was going to give away two very nice chairs, which are now saved for Betty.

After the late service, I got more comments about a sermon than I ever have. I believe that the phrase “kairos moment” is going to become part of the church vocabulary.

Monday, while tying up some loose ends for the mission camp, I met a volunteer from Christ Community Church who has helped us for years. She wants a copy of this so she can see if her church will put together a build team. Then I called our contact at New Friendship Presbyterian. In the course of the conversation, I mentioned that we were transitioning into this new project, hoping that they might also be willing to help. Guess what? She's Betty's cousin! Folks, I could not make this up.

As I told the congregation on Sunday, life is a journey. Take a good map, enjoy detours, and look for open windows. This is a kairos time, not just for Betty, or for our church, but for the Huntersville community. God is calling!

Everyday "God things"

The back door after the fire

     Lots of little "God things" are happening along the way to building Betty a house.  Every few days the phone rings or someone e-mails, out of the blue, with news about Betty's house.  We received an e-mail from a family friend of Betty's who had heard that we were trying to get a group together for a build and she wanted to be a part of it.  We have gotten posts on Facebook about groups who want to join and one friend who is willing to donate her teacher's bonus.  A couple of skilled carpenters have said they they are ready to jump in. 
     Betty has LOTS of friends who are coming forward, asking what they can do, and we even found out that one of the Habitat Site Supervisors knows her personally and is excited that something is being done.  It is so awesome that so many people are willing to show their love in a tangible way, and that she has cultivated such a huge group of people that love her.

     I have been thinking a lot about what a church is, what we are called to be and mindfully looking for people reflecting Christ in our world.  I saw Him the other day in traffic when a man, riding by on his bicycle, and another, driving by, each pulled over to push a lady's stalled car to the side of the road.  I saw Him in the neighborhood when the older kids calmed their game down to gently throw the ball for the little kids.Look for Him tomorrow.  He is out there and active!

     Have you ever heard someone say, "I'm religious, but I don't go to church."? I'm not sure those people have ever been a part of what I think of as church.  Church is not the building, or the pastor, but the people, the family of the church.  I think we, as God's people, would be better served to think about going to church in the same way we used to think of going to Grandma's house for Sunday lunch.  It is an opportunity to be a family, to take a deep breath, to regenerate and to be with people who love us just as we are. 

     Being Church does come with responsibilities. 
          1.  We have the responsibility to welcome others into the family and love them.  (It's hard to be the new daughter in law in an established family.) 
          2. We have the responsibility to help out!  If Grandma has to do all the work all the time she's going to burn out.  Peel the potatoes, take out the trash, just pitch in somehow.  
          3.  We have the responsibility to represent the family with grace and honor to the best of our abilities so the rest of the world can see the joy of being family.

     Church should be the same on Tuesday as it is on Sunday.  Unless we, as disciples, are willing to model Christ's love in the "real" world the Church is dead.."For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field.  God's building." 1Cor. 3:9

Baby steps

    Step one for building Betty's House was finding out if the home can be saved.  Frank Greene, Michael Stedman, Michael Stewart, Jerry and I met the Saturday after Betty's home burned to assess the fire damage.  What we needed to find out was if there was a benefit to doing a partial demo and then rebuilding on the remaining home.  While it was a possibility, both contractors, Michael Stewart and Frank Greene agreed that a completely new home was a better solution.  Just having a team of people, committed to working together made the leap a little less scary.

      
Meeting Manny
     One of our first calls was to Our Towns Habitat for Humanity.  Although Manny Rosado was not in the office, he soon called back.  Jerry communicated him that we hoped Habitat would be willing to share some of their knowledge and expertise in building inexpensive homes.  Manny enthusiastically told Jerry that Habitat was "all in" and that they were actively looking for partnerships with local churches to build communities.  Manny's enthusiasm and faith was infectious and just the boost  we needed.  What a gift from God!
     Jerry, needs to know the scope of a project, who will be involved, what it will cost, where the funds will come from, and what the 200 steps are to get us from here to there.  My style is to jump in, pray and then worry about whether I have gotten myself in too deep (If I had stronger faith I would pray first, then act and not worry at all, but, obviously both Jerry and I are works in progress.) 
     Betty's house is a big project (big for us, not for God), Jerry and I are remaining true to our natures.  Jerry has a long list of questions, he has started creating agendas for meetings and lists of contacts and other data.  I have started laying awake worrying.  So, for both of us, we need God's reminders that this is God's build, not man's.
     That's where Manny came in.  
     On June 5th, less than 3 weeks after Betty's home burned, the team met at the Habitat offices to figure out what we could do.  Manny Rosado is a man on fire for Christ.  His excitement and enthusiasm were infectious.  We talked about the Habitat model and he showed us plans, samples, detailed drawings, everything we need to put a home together.  For almost 2 hours Manny, Ann Gibert, Kirk Sipe, Doug Bostic, Jerry and I talked about building and Christ.
     Doug Bostic brought up the concerns for asbestos removal and the cost involved with that as well as needing to assess the well and septic system.  We talked about fundraising.  Based on a 100sf  home we are looking at needing to raise between $50K and $60K.
     God has a plan!  We just need to listen and follow. 




  

Close your eyes and jump in.

Betty's house in March 2011

      Each spring, for the last 10 years, Jerry and I have met with homeowners who may need the help of Salkehatchie Summer Service to improve their living conditions. We have looked at over a hundred homes and met many lovely people willing to allow a dozen kids and adults to invade their homes with hammers and power tools to repair and renovate.  They were willing to put their trust in us, and in God.  In 100 meetings, only twice have we decided, on the spot, that we have to do a home.  We were so moved when we met Betty Patterson that we knew we needed to work on her home.

      Betty’s insurance company had just cancelled her home insurance because her roof was so badly in need of repair that it was in danger of collapse.  Despite her hard work, her home was falling apart around her.  We knew that Salkehatchie could help.  Betty was also very helpful in connecting us with several other people who need help improving their homes.

       Betty is a warm and engaging woman who has lived in her home for more than 50 years.  Past the age where most people retire, she works very hard at cleaning homes and has a large clientele that are very fond of her and she is surrounded by a large extended family.

      On May 16, 2012, just two months after we told her that we would work on her home, Betty's home burned.  But, God, in his infinite wisdom, was using what the world sees as a tragedy, for His Glory.  

The interior, after the fire

  

      Betty was not at home when the fire started.  An extension cord overheated, igniting the sofa.  When Betty came home and saw her couch on fire, she tried to put it out and, when she was unsuccessful, she went to get help.  By the time the firefighters arrived, the interior of the home was completely ablaze.  But God was at work.

      While the home was burning, a pastor drove by.  Rev. Allen Purtrill from Hopewell Presbyterian saw the flames, and stopped to offer love and support.  Although he was a stranger, he prayed with Betty while the firefighters worked to save her home.  Family and friends from the neighborhood came to offer their support.  Betty shared with Rev. Purtrill that she had no insurance and the Salkehatchie group from Huntersville United Methodist was coming in July to repair her roof. 

      Rev. Purtrill called Rev. Mike Goode at HUMC.  Mike called Jerry; and Jerry, who was still at work, called me. Before the fire crews were finished I drove up to Betty’s home.

      When I arrived, the firetruck was still in front of the home and the firemen were moving steadily in and out of the smouldering house.  The fire was out, but they were still removing smoldering furniture and assessing the damage.  Betty was there along with many family members and neighbors. 

Charred rafters

      I introduced myself to the fire investigator.  He said that Betty had told him we were going to fix her roof.  When I asked him how bad the fire was he let me know that although the two bedrooms were not burned, the rest of the home was demolished.  He let me know the source of the fire and that, in his estimation, the home was a total loss.

      As I left, I hugged Betty and my heart broke for her loss.  I told her that I didn’t know what we could do for her home but that she would be in our prayers and that we would come back to look at the house and see if there was anything we could do.  Her immediate needs were met by her many family and friends but I left with a very heavy heart.

      When I got home I called Jerry and we talked about the possibilities.  It seemed that the home was too far gone for a Salkehatchie project, but we wanted to do something.  I posted a request for prayers on my Facebook page.

     That evening, Katie Greene saw the post and talked to her dad.  Frank Greene was so moved that he called Jerry first thing the following morning.  He asked what we planned to do as a Salkehatchie camp.  Jerry responded that the home was a total loss and beyond what we felt we could do.  Frank said, “I think we can build her a home.”  Frank continued for a few minutes talking about rallying local home builders and suppliers and he felt strongly that although this was beyond our usual scope, we could do this.  Jerry, ever the pragmatist listened, intrigued, but skeptical. 

      After Jerry and I talked and he had time to think it through, Jerry called Frank back and said, “Yep, let’s try to do this.”

      Everyday, in every corner of the world, God is working miracles.  We are all so busy with everyday lives, homes and family, jobs, politics and drama that we fail to see the miracles all around us.Maybe we are looking for the seas to part?  God did not say to Moses, “Hey, watch this.”  He told Moses to, “Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.  (Exodus 14:16)

      We are so afraid of failing or looking foolish that even when God tells us to do something we hesitate.  Our reluctance to act on God’s plan inhibits His work here on earth.  This isn’t new to our generation.  Moses doubted his ability to serve and questioned God’s plan.  So has every follower of God’s plan, every step of the way. 

      So, this blog is not saying, “Hey, watch this.”  It is saying, God speaks to everyone and if you are listening and willing to obey, God will work great miracles.  I pray that as we write about our hopes, fears and joys through this journey, you will support Betty and her team with your prayers and if God is calling you to help, join us!