This week, our featured blogger is Ellie Wiener, who lives in Beverly and is a member of North Shore Community Baptist Church. Ellie is is a full-time student at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. As many are growing weary with dynamics relating to the COVID-19 public health crisis, Ellie shares a powerful reflection and call to action to cling to the resurrection hope found in Jesus Christ because He is our End.

The end. These sweet words of closure place the period on the best stories, celebrated with a satisfied exhale. How is it that this common phrase of finality has frayed into elusiveness and uncertainty so abruptly? Often when I stop to probe the restlessness I register stirring within my soul, it is this devolution of my sense of “the end” I find churning at the core. I discover that once again, my fickle self sends out grasping hands to latch onto any hopeful statistic, any felicitous daydream of when and how this pandemic will come to an end so life can return to the normalcy we did not know we should have treasured so much.

But then projections prove to be a double-edged sword, for I rarely find congenial the assessments of how long it may take for society to open back up (haltingly, guardedly) to work and gathering, for distribution of vaccines to quell this unwieldy virus. Our best number-crunching and prudent proactivity are a meager match for this invisible yet formidable foe of a virus that keeps demanding more of our calendar, resources, bodies…

And then if I press on still further into the labyrinth of my heart, the dim pathways become only more grim. I encounter what I scarcely dare admit: that I most often, most strongly desire “the end” for myself first. Even though my situation is far less dire—in fact, rather pleasant on the whole—in comparison with the grieving and/or vulnerable millions worldwide who are anxious over lost jobs, pushed to the brink of starvation, mourning a loved one, physically compromised, etc., still I somehow retain the selfishness to wish first for the alleviation of what feels most unideal in my own life. Perhaps you resonate, whatever your situation may be. Yet is not the way of the cross to carry the death of Jesus around in our bodies so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our lives and the lives of those around us (2 Cor 4)? Rather than looking for the quickest escape route from suffering, should we not purposefully ally ourselves with those most likely to linger in suffering long after many have recovered and forgotten? O God, have mercy.

And in God’s mercy, may I—and we, together as the church—absorb and lament the pain of the world through tears of faithful intercession. In God’s mercy, may we enter the specific griefs of our hurting neighbors, with no hurry to exit and no agenda to accomplish other than to bear the presence of Christ in love. In God’s mercy, may we run to the sufferer with the winsome, hope-filled comforts of a tender Savior.

How may this be done? Only if our Lord is our End. We are no longer lost, for we have been found at the End, in the End; we are no longer blind, for we have beheld the End; we are no longer thirsty, for we have drunk to the End. In our God we have encountered all that is substantial and lasting, wholly satisfying truth. No longer must we linger in limbo as we restlessly pine for circumstances to emerge as we would ordain; rather, we are invited to acquiesce delightedly to life and time as God has masterfully ordained them.

What is more, Christian faith would come up tragically short if devoid of eschatology, theology of the end. Paul has said that if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men (1 Cor 15). I am learning to cling to the resurrection of my Lord as I never have before, trusting that even now in the risen Jesus the Spirit has ushered me into the Father’s presence in the heavenly realms, uniting his people to the divine life and securing the life to come (Eph 2). It is indeed fitting that humans should recoil at the brokenness and darkness of the world, refusing to settle for anything other than wholeness and light. We are only able to stare a sin-scarred world in the face without fleeing in terror or collapsing in despair because we stand with our God who once made and declared everything good; has climactically thwarted death in the cross that gave way to life; and promises to make all things new at last. Then—how my heart burns within me—the end will come. And outstripping our wildest imagination, it will be unshakably and unendingly glorious.

Today, we are honored to feature Erika Anderson as a guest blogger, who writes about the significance of our embodied lives. “Embody: Follow. Seek. Take.” is the theme behind an upcoming conference and public display in the Boston Common coordinated by Park Street Church. Erika is a farm girl from South Dakota but has called Massachusetts home for ten years. She is a lawyer and lives with her husband and three daughters in Brookline. Read below to hear the theme behind the conference, about how Jesus beckons each of us to “embody, follow, seek, and take.”

“Failure to honor God in the material realm cannot be compensated for by religiosity in the spiritual realm.” ~Chris Wright

Jesus’ arrival on Earth forever negated the notion that material does not matter. The entire material universe matters to God – He created it, and He called it good. And He took on flesh and walked and ate and breathed among us. With us. Even Jesus’ miracles cannot be separated from the body. Guests celebrated by drinking new wine; newly whole bodies walked, and leaped and praised God. When Jesus speaks of who will inherit his Father’s kingdom, he speaks of welcoming bodies: “As you have done to the least of these, you have done onto me” (Mt 25:40).

The Son of God put on flesh and moved into our neighborhood. This is called incarnation. Christianity can become an intellectualized set of ideas rather than a way of life.  This is called excarnation. Jesus of Nazareth invites us to embody his life in the world.

To embody is to give a tangible or visible form to. During the past year, we have been instructed to keep our bodies at home, to keep our bodies distanced, to keep our bodies safe. Yet, as Christians, we are still called to continue to embody the presence of Jesus. We are called to give a tangible form to Jesus’ love in a city that is scared, isolated, unmoored from the familiar, and uncertain about the future. As we dreamed about a conference to engage our city, we knew we wanted to tell stories of Jesus still embodied even this year – perhaps especially this year.

We have invited voices from our city to share their stories, and we invite you to a different kind of a conference: “Embody: Follow. Seek. Take.” EMBODY is a week of community happenings about incarnating the Presence of Jesus in the City.

We will consider three of Jesus’ invitations and promises through the lenses of these voices in the city: 

(1) Follow me and I will make you fishers of the human race (Mt 4:19). We will walk through our neighborhoods and pray for our neighbors. We will listen to the voices of city pastors share how they created community and reached people when their doors were closed. We will hear from professionals – teachers, doctors, professional musicians, and entrepreneurs who pivoted their livelihoods and faced a health crisis unlike our city has ever seen and still found purpose, still found the kingdom at work in the midst of crisis.

(2) Seek first my kingdom, and I will add all these things to you (Mt 6:33). We will hear from an author and creator of authentic communities, Hugh Halter, speak about mission as the everyday stuff of life. We will hear voices in our city from those who sewed thousands of masks to keep our communities safe, who distributed groceries to families. We will hear how kingdom seekers fought food insecurity: from writing grants to support food pantries to food banks packing hundreds of pounds of food each week. We will hear children and teens who shared sandwiches and conversation with people experiencing homelessness at warming centers.

(3) Take my yoke, and you will find rest for your souls (Mt 11:29). Church planter and Park Street Church lead pastor, Mark Booker, will share a good word on taking Jesus’ yoke to find Jesus’ rest. We will hear from college students sharing how they have seen the embodied presence of Jesus during disruption on their campuses. And we will close the Embody conference with a special candlelight vigil, of gratitude for Jesus’ invitations and promises, gratitude for his continued embodied presence among us. 

In a special photography exhibit in the Boston Common throughout the weekend, Hope Rising, we will invite the public to view photographs of people who live and work in our city and listen to their voices share their hopes and dreams for our city. We will invite each of you to add your photo and your hopes and dreams, too. These and so many more opportunities await you to follow, seek, and take during the Embody conference, April 11-18.

The kingdom continues. 

Find out more at https://www.parkstreet.org/cityengagement/embody-conference/

Shin Maeng and Sarah Shin are gifted artists and conveyors of God’s heart for justice. They both graduated from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and now live with their baby girl in Scotland. Sarah also served as Associate National Director of Evangelism with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) and is the author of Beyond Colorblind. We wanted to share this beautiful piece of art that was inspired by Sarah’s poem, which capture the pain and also hope within generations of those in the Asian community, a powerful piece for reflection during this Holy Week.

Dr. Desiree Etienne, with her co-leaders Pastor Edris Webbe and Minister Ava-Ann Pennyfeather, leading a virtual ‘Boston United’ revival service on April 10th-11th. 

When UniteBoston’s staff heard about a church event called “Boston United,” we knew we needed to talk with the organizer of this event, as it had such synergy with UniteBoston’s own name. We had the chance to interview Dr. Desiree Etienne this past week – read below to hear her goals for a time of revival and awakening for Christians in Greater Boston that transcend traditional church (or virtual) walls. 

By K. Percy Ballah

Twenty-seven years ago, Dr. Desiree Etinenne moved to the United States from Antigua with a dream to pursue higher education. As she began pursuing this, God placed another dream in her heart to “see a revival that would awaken the church and the world.” While pastoring at Bethel Abundant Life Church over the past twenty-three years, she has grappled with how to make her God dream a reality. As her experiences in life and ministry revealed the spiritual and emotional challenges people were facing, and as she perceived the widened divisions within the body of Christ, she sensed that it was time to launch a gathering to invite the Holy Spirit to do a deep work of awakening in the hearts of Christians throughout the city. Last year, she took the next steps by meeting with two other women pastors to establish a revival gathering called “Boston United.”

 In UniteBoston’s work to highlight the beautiful work that God is doing through various churches and ministries throughout the city, we wanted to meet with Dr. Desiree to learn about what makes her dream for awakening and revival unique. In our conversation with her, we discovered some key things that undergird her God dream: 

First of all, we learned that her dream was birthed out of a personal spiritual encounter that she witnessed when her husband was miraculously healed at a revival worship service. She described, “I believed in miracles and often prayed for them, but I never saw a physical miracle happen until my husband was healed five years ago at that worship service.” That defining experience clarified her vision for what could be possible at a revival gathering. She wanted to see this type of supernatural healing take place with Christians from among the city because many people are facing overwhelming challenges that require divine intervention. 

In the past year, there has been a significant increase in the struggle with emotional, mental, and physical health challenges. Also, many people are feeling lonely because they have been living in isolation. Dr. Desiree believes that these complex challenges have presented an opportunity for people to experience a spiritual awakening that could happen through a revival service. 

With the restrictions in place for in-person gatherings, it has been difficult for churches to host physical gatherings. Finding a solution to this significant problem was critical to making her dream of awakening a reality. She expressed that she had been thinking through these types of questions since last year when her original revival service was canceled because of the pandemic. Consequently, Dr. Desiree and her team have adjusted their strategy to host a virtual revival gathering on April 10th and 11th. This gathering will have a virtual worship experience, praying together in breakout rooms, and a sermon by Bishop Dr. Jonathan Ramsey Jr., the Bishop that God used to heal her husband. 

This adjustment to the original plan has been an unexpected twist to how Dr.Desiree envisioned awakening would happen in this revival service.  However, Dr. Desiree and her co-leaders, Pastor Edris Webbe and Minister Ava-Ann Pennyfeather are determined to host this gathering because they believe that it is God’s timing. They know that God is not restricted by our distance physically from each other. God’s spirit can easily travel through the barriers of our computer screens and smartphones to touch our souls–and perhaps, wake us up so that we will step boldly into His greater purpose for our lives.  

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Historically, something special always happens when Christians unite to worship and pray together. This type of unity has always been a spark that ignites great awakenings and revivals. Dr. Desiree believes that “when we as a Church can unite across the denominations, and ethnic backgrounds, we will have a greater testimony to offer the world.” At times it has been frustrating for this team of women pastors to see the church not reaching its full potential and seeing the fiery love some believers once had for Jesus to grow dim. 

Ultimately, they expect God to show up in a mighty way up to strengthen the bond of Christians and rekindle believers’ fire and passion for Jesus. In recognition that the oneness that Jesus prays for in John 17 is a testimony about the reconciling love of Jesus, they hope  that unbelievers will then be attracted to the Church and also experience a spiritual awakening.

The “Boston United” revival service will take place on Saturday, April 10th, from 5:30pm to 7:00pm and Sunday, April 11th, from 4:00pm to 5:30pm. We would love to see Christians throughout Greater Boston join with Dr. Desiree in her dream for awakening and see how the Holy Spirit might show up as we seek God together.  Click here for more information and to register.

Hey UniteBoston!  You may remember Kika Ghobrial, our incredible emcee in UniteBoston’s annual concerts such as last fall’s “Love Boston” concert. Did you know that Kika also planted a church called “Lighthouse” for young adults in West Roxbury, and has been working to produce a new Podcast called “Social Media Revivalists?” This new podcast highlights how Christians with hundreds of thousands of followers are using social media to share the gospel. We had the chance to catch up with Kika to hear more about this initiative – Read his story below to hear how people are creatively sharing the gospel and engaging with future generations.

UB: This sounds incredible. Kika, tell us how did this project get started?

Kika: Yeah it’s been a fun journey and honestly, I’ve always been interested in videos and the media world and love having some sort of creative outlet. At the end of 2020, I was ready to commit to doing something big like this so I finally made it happen! I reached out to some “big Christian Tiktokers” who have hundreds of thousands of followers to hear a bit of their story and how they are seeing God use them to bring people to Christ! Here’s a quick clip of one video that shares a bit of that story that I’ve used to promote the show on Tiktok as well. It really is amazing to see Christians online bringing real world revival and I’m just here to listen to their stories and share the good news with the rest of the Christian world. 

UB: Why do you think these posts on social media took off?

Kika: I think that the pandemic increased the isolation and brought many people to ask the big questions about God, the meaning of life, and seeking greater purpose. Christians took to social media platforms, especially to Tiktok, to publicly share their faith and the strength of trusting in God in challenging times. As you’ll find out on the show, there are testimonies after testimonies of young people starting their faith journey because of what they heard others share online. In fact, in a Tiktok livestream, a young man named Elijah Lamb saw over 300 people give their life to Christ! All in one night!

UB: Wow, how does that work for all those people to indicate a profession of faith online?

Kika: With the livestreams they can see how many people are in attendance and then people can respond on the chat so Elijah had people respond through that. Crazy stuff! There’s a lot more going on that I thought when I first started this podcast – I never thought the impact was that wide-spread.  You can watch the Elijah Lamb soon as it will be released on Monday night March 22.

UB: Awesome, Kika. Can you tell me more about yourself and what else you are passionate about? 

Kika: I live on the Gordon College campus with my wife Rachel who is a resident director there. One of the perks of living at Gordon is that we live close to the beach and can go surfing when it’s warm enough! 

I’m also passionate about connecting with young adults and growing the influence of their church to impact the local community. The big project I am working on currently is launching the English church at the Arabic Church which will be called “Lighthouse Church” and will open its doors on Easter! When I look back, it’s been quite a journey since I moved to West Roxbury from Cairo, Egypt in 2002 when my father accepted the position at this church!

UB: What do you appreciate about UniteBoston?

Kika: I love the vision of UniteBoston and the opportunity to bring Christians from all backgrounds together to unite in worship. I have built incredible relationships through those worship nights as well as through the West Roxbury community dinners that UniteBoston also hosts.

UB: What’s next for you with Social Media Revivalists?

Kika: I’m dreaming of creating a resource with names of churches and youth pastors in all major cities, so when young people give their life to Christ through online social media platforms like this, they can get connected to a local church. I recognize that this is key for life-long discipleship – and I am talking to a few people about that now! 

UB: What’s your take-home message to Christians in the Boston area?

Kika: COVID has made it challenging to reach out to others to share our faith because we can’t see people as easily. What if we learned to be comfortable on social media and share our faith through the technology that is available to us? While some say technology is bad, God can use anything and redeem all things, so I would love to see us continue to find creative ways to share the hope that we have even in the midst of a pandemic!

Kika will be releasing an episode of “Social Media Revivalists” every other Monday – Check it out on Kika’s Youtube Channel, Spotify and Apple Podcasts