Creciendo en Comunidad – Growing in Community

Over the years I have come to find that there are some words and phrases that I prefer in Spanish, they just have a nicer flow to them.
This is one of them, Creciendo en Comunidad – Growing in Community.
Doesn’t that sound nice? Maybe it’s the alliteration or balance of letters or perhaps it’s the way it has a more musical and lyrical flow when I hear or say it.
Anyway, language reflection aside I am writing this piece because recently we, David and I, have been so incredibly blessed to have tangibly experienced the beauty and joy of being part of and growing together with others in community. And I would like to share some examples with a hope of encouraging others to intentionally search for, explore and lean into community.
Remembering that community is modelled to us through God’s Triune nature and is a deeply rich part of His loving design and plan for us all.

On 27^th November 2024 as David and I were sat having breakfast we received a phone call that changed everything in an instance and left us numb and in shock. Out of what felt like nowhere my younger brother, 19 years old at the time, had been diagnosed with leukaemia. In that moment my heart shattered, and my intrinsically human, sinful  nature went to worse case scenario before it went to Our Loving Father. Tears flowed and my heart physically ached as questions filled my head, many of which remain unanswered, and I imagine will never be answered at least not on this side of eternity.
God is Good. This simple, beautiful truth was and is an anchor.

In the days that followed God showed His deep love and care for us all, David and I, my parents, my siblings and their families, in extraordinary, tangible and even lavish ways.
One big way we felt supported by our communities was through prayer, people being attentive and intentional, checking in on us, friends offering support and help where possible and encouraging us. Also, through people being willing to just listen as we processed and expressed our feelings and thoughts, especially the scarier and at times sinful ones when I was struggling to understand the whys and God’s purpose. This all helped us feel like we were not alone and that we were cared for and loved. Every single hug, kind word, listening ear and message was an encouragement and warmed our hearts.
God is Good.

A couple of days after the diagnosis I was talking with my mum about options for David and me to go to England to spend Christmas with them and my brother, for us to be able to see them, support them and spend time together. There was so much uncertainty in those earlier days, and we wanted to be with them but simply did not have the resources ourselves. We said that we would all be praying and trust God and His plans.
God is Good.
The next day as we were having dinner with David’s family celebrating our sister in laws birthday, I received a message from some close friends that expressed their desire to bless us with the flights to go to England to be with my family.
God is Good.
More tears flowed, a mix of gratitude, joy, relief and some fear. I felt incredibly thankful that God had answered our prayers so quickly and in such a clear way. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and joy that His reply was so lavish and through the generosity He placed in the hearts of our friends. They had not even known that we did not have the resources to go to England.
I was relived because I didn’t want to make the decision myself whether to go or not. I had so many questions and doubts like, ‘what happens if we go now and then in a few months we need to go again?’ and ‘I don’t want to be a burden for my parents instead of a blessing’ and ‘what if we have foreign germs that make my brother sick and put him at risk.’ So many thoughts and feelings.
God is Good.

The blessing of the flights was a direct answer to prayer and the clarity I needed, the decision made for me.
However, the fear remained, not to be unpacked until much later.
Just before we went to England, we were at an end of year activity with the children, youth and families we serve in Bethania, a vulnerable community in Guatemala City, and we shared with some of the youth about my brother’s diagnosis and our trip to England. A big part of our ministry in Bethania is relational and about sharing life together, that includes us being vulnerable and sharing too. It was so heart-warming when two sisters that I had been walking alongside more intentionally said that they would be praying for us and my brother, and I knew in my heart that they meant it. What a blessing, community being lived out in the most unexpected places.
God is Good.

My parents were basically living with my brother at the hospital (additional context my brother has Down Syndrome and is Autistic) and even though their house was available we wanted to find somewhere to stay that was closer to the hospital so that we could be free to visit as often as possible and without needing a car. My parents asked in their church community and a few people offered their homes, we ended up staying with a lovely family in their home that was only a 20-minute walk from the hospital. They were wonderful and welcomed us into their home with such warm and relaxed hospitality that helped us feel comfortable and safe especially while experiencing all the emotions. Hospitality is a true gift, both the receiving and giving of and we got to experience it in its most beautiful expression through the grace and generosity God has blessed this family with.
God is Good.

Hospital visiting hours were very open, 8am-8pm which allowed us to spend full days with my brother and parents while we were visiting which was a lovely gift.
We were able to be there almost every day and simply ‘be’ with them and share together. That included Christmas dinner, with crackers and crowns, and all the trimmings in hospital. A dinner provided by friends from my parents’ church. As a church community people had created a schedule for members to cook and deliver food for my parents on a daily basis for the 5 weeks they were in hospital.
A beautiful outworking of practical support in community, which David and I were also blessed by along with my parents.
God is Good.

My brother happens to be extremely popular and well loved and while in hospital received a lot of cards, gifts and visitors. From my perspective, for him people visiting was the best part of being in hospital, he loves quality time with others, and it was obviously a great source of comfort and joy for him while he was in hospital and receiving treatments and feeing unwell that people from his community surrounded him with love through visits and spending time with him. It was a very joyful thing for us to witness and gave us a lot of comfort and peace too.
We felt incredibly grateful that my parents and brother had such an intentional and wonderful community around them. How many people can say that they had visitors pretty much every day while in hospital and that even their hairdresser/barber came to visit them in hospital and brought them a drone.
It also meant a lot to me that David and I could be so present and spend so much time with my brother and parents, even spending a couple of nights in the hospital allowing my parents a brief break and moment to rest at home. I had wanted to be a blessing and not a burden and was thankful that God used us and allowed us to help and support them while we were there too, through His grace.
God is Good.

God showed up in other less ‘important’, ‘unnecessary’ ways too, in little details that we received and appreciated as deeply thoughtful and even extravagant gifts. It is publicly known by all that my brother is obsessed with the show Strictly Come Dancing and some church friends decided to reach out to one of the dancing couples at the time via Instagram and they sent him a personalised video message bringing him a lot of joy and making him feel extremely special.
The wife in our host family planted the seed in our minds about glitter balls, like the Strictly glitter ball trophy and one day while walking down the Exeter high street we noticed a store front decorated with an array of different sized sparkling glitter balls. Well, we decided to go in and ask if they would be willing to gift us one, unfortunately on that day they were not able to authorise our request.
However, on Christmas Eve we decided to try again, I might have played all our ‘cards’ with the reality of the situation, and to our surprise and delight they gifted us a glitter ball. My brother’s face was filled with emotion when he opened that gift on Christmas Day.
God is Good.

God’s timing in all things is always perfect. As we were in England, we were able to celebrate my mum’s 60^th birthday together with her, my dad, my brother, and my older sister and her entire family. These are the types of family celebrations David and I often have to miss and celebrate from afar or at a later date. It meant a lot to be able to be present for this one, despite the circumstances that brought us to England.
It felt extremely special to celebrate my mum with almost all our family together and to spend some quality time with some of our niblings (nephews and nieces) too. And I know how much joy it brought my brother and parents.  
God is Good.

Personally for David and I we were blessed with some special details too, like a beautiful Christmas Carol service in Exeter Cathedral, that we did not have tickets to, but we trusted God and He provided a way; through a lovely couple who announced to the small group of ticketless people hovering by the cathedral entrance (which we were not only part of but were its first members) that they had 2 extra tickets and my very speedy and vocal response sharing that we had not been able to get tickets online. David in particular enjoys all things musical, coral and liturgical, so this service was profoundly special.
We were also blessed through a simple, intimate, Gospel centred midnight Christmas Eve church service at our host family’s church. I didn’t mention before, but our host is the vicar of my parents’ previous church. My parents and brother have more recently been part of a church plant from said church. It was a deeply poignant and moving service helping us focus on God, His Son, Our Saviour in the midst of a very challenging and emotional time in our lives.
God is Good.

Now coming back to the fear, the fear that I couldn’t name but was living in the back of my mind the whole time we were in England. It wasn’t until we had returned home, and I was externally processing in a safe space with David and a close friend that I could put it into words and unpack it. The whole time we were in England I had been holding a tension inside, fearing that the reason that God had provided a way for us to be with my brother and parents in England was because something bad was going to happen. I wasn’t able to process it or say it at the time, I think because I didn’t want it to be true or maybe because I knew it revealed my own sin and lack of trust. It showed my doubt in God’s goodness and sovereignty.

At the time I knew that God was working for our good, even without knowing what the short-term and long-term outcomes would be, we still don’t know all the long-term outcomes.
Yet I have known, and know God’s goodness and we got to live among so many tangible expressions of His goodness through this process. We saw His hand at work and all the beautiful ways He revealed Himself and His love to us, especially through our communities, David’s and mine and those of my parents and brother.
The simple yet truly incomprehensible truth is that God is Good.

These are the main ways we were able to experience and live within community during a difficult season that helped me say out loud and know in my heart that God is Good, all the time! A truth God is allowing me to lean into more and more as I grow in faith during my walk with Him.
I have been blessed by this truth, it has brought a deep comfort in my heart, that brings peace and joy and I have seen it as an outworking in my life when I have sought to say God is Good in all circumstances even when it might feel hard.
More recently, while we were waiting for some news (unrelated to my brother) that could have been positive or could have been challenging to hear I was praying, ‘God you are Good, help me to still say that when we receive this news, either way’. Praise God, the news was positive and saying God is Good afterwards was that bit easier, but my heart’s desire is to be able to say God is Good, always and in all circumstances.  
This season has been helping me with this.

My brother currently no longer has traces of leukaemia in his bone marrow and is receiving treatment that will help his body to produce healthy, leukaemia free blood cells. He is doing extremely well and has returned to college.
God is Good.