DOING WHAT WE ARE CREATED TO DO
by Rev. Stan Berntson

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I was raised on a farm in southwest Minnesota.

It was a small farm, 160 acres, where we grew corn, small grains, some soybeans, chickens and pigs. The land was flat and the soil was very good. And I have no regrets. My dreams still take me back, even 40 years later. It was a good place to grow up.

When looking back on those days, some of my fondest memories are now of my parents, and how they worked together. The farm was their business and their home. Their lives were woven together into the seasons and the land. They shaped the land and the land shaped them. Their faith and the land were also woven together. And their bodies now rest in that land in the cemetery of our old country church, two miles from the farm where they toiled for so many years.

My mom and dad knew the love from God, and they shared it with each other, and
with others. They were good neighbors, good parents, good friends … to each other and to others. I believe they lived out what they were created to do, in spite of whatever brokenness their lives experienced. They weren’t perfect, but they shined.

As I write this, my wife Sharon and I are heading into our longest physical separation.
About two months. After that we are “on the farm.” Yoked together finally on the M/V
CHRISTIAN. We wonder how we will react after being apart so long.

Since our wedding the day after Christmas of 2005, we have been apart because of the transition to the call on the M/V CHRISTIAN. Working on fishing boats gaining sea time for my 100-ton license, and traveling doing development work for L-US kept the young marriage … young. Sharon was grounded at home with her youngest daughter, Marta, until her departure to college this fall. So we laugh as we joke about what it will really be like when we are together 24/7 on the boat.

And yet there is something that feels right, as if we are doing (or continuing to do) what we were created to do. One of my favorite passages from Ephesians is 5:1-2, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Sharon’s and my hope is that together we can do that. Not perfectly, but I hope we shine.

Sharon’s dad is a pastor, and her mom and dad are a great team together with their love for God, each other and others. They shine together. We are blessed to have a farm family and a clergy family as part of our foundation as we serve together. Hopefully this will help us do what God has created us to do.

When visiting a native village this summer I was informed that an elder had died and there would be a memorial service during the time of our stay. I asked the local lay pastor if the crew and volunteer team from the M/V CHRISTIAN would be welcome to attend the memorial. He asked the family and they said yes. They said we would show honor to their family if we came to the memorial. So we went.

The elder who died was a well-respected woman who loved God and she loved her people. And her people came and honored her. There were many “specials” … testimonies and musical numbers. She was a well-loved elder because she had loved well. She had embraced God and she had embraced her culture. Regalia covered her casket and tables on each side. She did what she was created to do. Not perfectly, but she shined. And the glow was all over her people.

There was a powerful theme at this elder’s memorial. Do what you are created to do. Embrace your culture. Embrace Jesus. Live out your life in loving sacrifice. Like she did. Stay away from drugs and alcohol, because all they do is take you away from what you were created to do … and be. Embrace Jesus, the love from God. And shine. Shine as a Tlingit. Shine as a child of God.

A Message From our First Mate, Sharon Geldaker

I am eagerly anticipating joining my husband, Stan, this autumn on the M/V CHRISTIAN in the waters of Southeast Alaska. We have been apart for much of these past 3 years,
as he has been out on the water, logging sea days, and earning the experience needed to skipper this vessel, and lead in this mission. Finally, we will live together, and begin
this life in ministry together, a long awaited and prayed for goal.

But now other questions loom … how exactly will we accomplish this ministry? How will we move together in this new setting, and among people we don’t even know
yet? What does the Lord want us to do in each village or community?

My mother taught me that worrying shows ingratitude to God. He has taken care of us in the past, and there is no reason to doubt that He will provide what is needed ahead.
I leaned heavily on this promise after my first husband died suddenly at age 40. With two daughters to raise, I dreaded the role of single parent. But looking back, I cannot tell you all of the miniscule ways that the Lord cared for us, and provided for us. During that time, I also learned to be quiet… and listen.

I found that if I woke with a dilemma, or problem I couldn’t fix myself, a name would often pop into my head; someone I could call that made sense of that problem.
Phrases or groups of words would sometimes come to me that would encourage me. They would express a thought. These thoughts would catch my attention, because they
were made up of words I wouldn’t normally use. So I would repeat them over and over or stick them next to my bathroom mirror. They were words that would give me
hope and encourage me to dare to take on the next day.

In the same way, when I ask God how and what Stan and I are to do to tackle these new tasks ahead … the only word I sense from above and within is … Listen.

And this encourages me again! … because even when I feel shy around folks I’ve
never met, I can listen! And what greater gift can we give a new friend, but a listening ear. And what better way to shed light on how we are to move and minister in new communities, but to listen to what is needed from those who come aboard, and then move with the help of the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t have to be complicated. But it does require an attentive ear, and heart.

When Jesus addressed the crowds, He also tried to instruct us with stories, and gift us with words to hold onto. But He also taught that hearing and understanding may not be the same thing. It was important to really listen first …. In Matthew 13:9 He tells the crowd, “He who has ears, let him hear …” and again, later, “Listen, and understand …” Matthew 15:10 For His disciples, He explained further, and reassured them, “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” Matthew 13:16

A favorite song of ours comes to mind, and now I recognize what our mission and new prayer should be for all that lies ahead. Join with me and sing it to yourself throughout the day, or post it by your bathroom mirror to instruct you for your daily tasks
ahead. If we open ourselves up to listen, God will tell us all we need to know and do in the days ahead. “Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus; to reach out and touch Him, and say that we love Him. Open our ears, Lord, help us to listen … Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus. Amen."