From Warsaw, Poland to Irvine, California
Christine Caine’s talk at Women’s Leadership Night at Mariners Church emphasized being urgently non-anxious about our faith during the Ukraine war and distressful flow of refugees. Fresh from a worship gathering in Warsaw, Poland, where Christine spoke to people who came from every Polish village, she encouraged So Cal women to show their support through prayer, Mariners’ donations of food, and other relief vehicles.
Her Polish worship event was conducted at the site of a museum where a WWII uprising took place, and she made the wary wartime connection. Ukrainian women showed Christine FaceTimes of their families being torn apart at the Poland-Ukraine border as men said goodbyes to return to war, with women and children saying tearful, cautionary goodbyes to their loved ones.
“Women and children can barely catch their breath. Every church in Poland is taking in kids.”
With her characteristic Aussie accent and enthusiasm, Christine says: “Don’t take it for granted we can gather here. We need to go to war in our spirit, interceding for the planet, praying, praising. God has blessed us. We need to prioritize the power of gathering. Be intentional. Create a vibe that’s world-caliber.”
The Upper Room at Mariners Church was packed to the very last inch with Christine first hosting a panel of satellite churches’ pastors’ wives and leaders. Panelists’ revelations included: “being authentic to my story, not letting criticism take me out,” “leaning on God’s strength,” and “remembering to acknowledge other peoples’ gifts to the ministry.”
ALL IS WELL
Referencing and connecting two major sources– Edwin Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix and 2 Kings 4:8-37, Elisha’s resurrection of the Shunammite woman’s son– Christine expounded on her theme “All is Well.”
“It’s the ability to have a non-anxious presence,” Christine said. “Everything is all right. Not denying reality, but trusting God in all. The spiritual posture of walking by faith in the midst of this. As a daughter of the King, here in this season of our lives, being salt and light, bringing order out of chaos. “Being in a ‘not all well’ world with an ‘all is well’ spirit.”
Friedman’s leadership book shows strength and self-determination as the marks of true leadership. Its thesis is that leadership is more about the leader’s own emotional processes than techniques to motivate others—effective leaders are people who are able to avoid being driven by the clamor that comes from problems or people of the day and instead remain fixed on management of carefully crafted principles and goals.
The words “all is well,” come from Christine’s second reference, the story of the Shunammite woman. In verse 26 of 2 Kings 4:8-37, the Shunammite woman says “All is well” (“It is well” in NAS version) before and not after the prophet Elisha raises her son from the dead. Previously, Elisha prophesies the woman would have a son from her old husband. Then when the son works in the field with his father, he complains of a pain in his head, is carried to his mother and dies in her arms. The woman chases down Elisha, the man of God, but when his servant asks her if it’s well with her family, she says, “It is well.”
She has faith in the worst of circumstances, (but as I read and blog it,) the Shunammite woman also acts: she moves past the servant to grab Elisha by the ankles! She won’t leave Elisha until he comes to see her son, and through prayer, God brings her son to life.
How does Christine translate this to today? “’We’re with you,” we say to the border child who may never see his father again. “What’s not happening on this side of eternity my happen on the other side. . . We exchange our weakness for God’s wisdom (in desperation.)”
Christine Caine speaks at Mariners Church weekend services and women’s events during the year. www.marinerschurch.org
A happy note here in Newport Beach, CA: Eastbluff neighbors’ five displaced Ukrainian relatives recently obtained Canadian visas for entry and are waiting for passports. At that point, they’ll need to raise money to purchase airlines tickets.
“Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles…” Isaiah 40:31a
