A Rare Bird

My family works with immigrants and refugees -- that's the kind of service God gave us to do. But occasionally that service takes a funny turn. I never thought pet re-homing would be part of our ministry, but that's how we got our "rare Vietnamese jungle fowl."

It was late spring, and I had been trying to find a parrot for my husband Chau's upcoming birthday. He'd been talking about getting one for years, and I thought I'd surprise him. But we were on a budget, and parrots are expensive. I hadn't found anything yet when the phone rang.

"Hello?" It was a church member on the other end, very upset. "Our landlord says we can't keep pets in our apartment. But we don't know what to do with our bird. We love him so much; we don't want him to die."

"A bird? What kind of bird?" I asked.

"Oh, it's a red bird, good-sized. A rare Vietnamese jungle fowl."

I called into the living room. "Sweetheart? Have you ever heard of a rare Vietnamese jungle fowl?"

No, my husband hadn't. But he was willing to have a look.

Twenty minutes later five people came through our door, dabbing at their eyes and blessing us for saving their darling pet. They were holding an ominous brown box with a rope leading into it.

I bit my lip. This was not going to end well.

"So let's see the rare Vietnamese jungle fowl," my husband said. Mr. B opened up the lid and out stepped ... an American rooster. Cock-a-doodle-doo!

"Thank you, thank you, for saving our pet," they all said at once. "We know you'll find the perfect home for him. And absolutely you won't let anyone eat him, will you? Oh, thank you, Pastor, thank you, Kari ...." We couldn't get a word in edgewise. At last the family left, still blessing us, and we got the rooster settled downstairs in the laundry room, leashed to an old wooden chair.

Upstairs my husband and I eyed each other. "So what are we going to do with him?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Beats me. We can't make chicken pot pie out of him, we promised. And who wants a rooster?"

A crow came from under the floor.

"Right," Chau said. "No eggs. Just noise."

Another crow. The bird was laughing at us.

"Well, at least it's Holy Week," I said. "If our neighbors hear him, they'll just think he's a prop for the Passion play."

Chau groaned.

Over the next four days I called everybody I could think of, trying to find a home for the rooster. The rotten bird had no sense of time. We had happy crowing morning, noon, and night -- clearly audible three stories up, even in the attic. It was driving us nuts. Sooner or later, one of the neighbors was going to call the police.

Then our vet called me back. "I think I may have a home for your rooster," he said. Apparently someone raising chickens out in the county would take him and promise not to eat him. Thank God! I got the bird out of the basement and into the car faster than he could crow again. An hour later, he was on his way to a new life, and our house was wonderfully quiet.

God has a funny sense of humor. What kinds of odd turns has your own Christian service taken? Share your stories by clicking here.

Actions Overcome Hate

In the middle of the dark night vandals broke into Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery, a Jewish graveyard in St. Louis, Missouri. Their objective was a small-minded one: spread a message of hate by toppling headstones and desecrating graves. As daylight dawned on the 170 headstones that were pushed or knocked over, the question on everyone's mind was "Why?"

The answer to this question would have to wait as those who committed this act of ignorance remained at large. As the search went on, others spoke again those words heard all too frequently in these kinds of situations: "prejudice," "hate crime," and "anti-Semitism."

Two days after the devastation, Eric Greitens, Governor of Missouri, called for volunteers to join him at the cemetery with the message, "Whoever did this slipped into a cemetery in secret to break things. We will stand together in the open to rebuild them, stronger."

Rich Cohrs, former LHM employee, contacted Don Hugo, a member of Zion Lutheran Church, with the invitation to join in with the community in an act of love. They donned their Men's NetWork caps and headed to the scene.

They were not prepared for what they witnessed. Hundreds of people responded to the call. Police were forced to block off streets and local businesses gladly relinquished their parking lots to accommodate the crowd. Vice-President Mike Pence and Governor Greitens addressed the group and then rolled up their sleeves and started raking the area clean.

Rich and Don joined the throng, waited in line to be searched by the Secret Service and finally entered into the cemetery to their assigned task of cleaning and polishing headstones. The Men's NetWork hats gave them a talking point with some they met. They spoke to Muslims, Jews, Christians, and some non-Christians as they labored side by side.

As they were leaving, Don had the opportunity to greet the Governor. This was a special moment for Don; he was Greitens' high school principal.

Men, it doesn't require an invitation from a governor to do acts of service and compassion in your community. Opportunities abound in the wake of tornadoes, storms, fires and, sadly, even stupid acts of vandalism and bigotry.

This April's upcoming Men's NetWork WORK DAY is a great example of a time when you can come together to serve those around you. The mere act of service is a witness of love to the community. Wearing the Men's NetWork cap provides an opportunity to jump start conversations.

Men, when the best of us step up, our community stands a little taller.

Hopefully, your community doesn't have to deal with fools who topple tombstones or cast hurtful slurs against racial or ethnic minorities. Still, your community may have its own set of issues it needs to address.

As you consider a possible service project for your community, remember you can turn a men's group effort into something extra-ordinary for this year's WORK DAY on April 29. Does anything out of the ordinary come to mind when you think of what your group might do this year?

If so, tells us about it by clicking here and sharing your thoughts.