Rev. Philip Doeschot and Rev. Stephanie Doeschot are graduates of Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, each earning a Masters of Divinity.degree.  Here is their bio, in their own words.

“During a ministry assessment many years ago, we were told that one of us was redundant. We laugh about it often, and have interpreted that to mean that we have a common commitment to a style of ministry. We seek to pastor in ways that equip the saints for the work of ministry. That’s how we have held together in co-planting and developing Christ’s Church (RCA) for nearly 30 years in the St Louis metro area. With the saints of Christ’s Church, a coffee house/fair trade store/faith community was launched 17 years ago and intentional work to break down racial barriers and to address food insecurity are ongoing.

When not playing with the five grandchildren who have graced our lives in the past few years, Phil can be found restoring his 1968 VW Bug and Stephanie might have a camera or a book in hand. We both love hiking and doing what we can to restore nutrients into the soil and grow beautiful native plants.

APCE plays a key role for us as lifelong learners of the Way of Jesus so it’s our pleasure to serve where we can, and to invite others to join in as together we follow the One who brings life that is full and meaningful!”

Thirsting for Kindness

Revs Phil and Stephanie Doeschot

We’ve just been through the hottest summer on record, many of us living in places where sky-rocketing temperatures have left landscapes parched, vegetation wilted and people experiencing dangerous heat-related health conditions. Woe to those who venture out without the trusty water bottle nearby, providing its life-sustaining hydration that keeps the body functioning. If you’ve had the experience of serious dehydration, you know what a danger it poses. Without the requisite amount of water needed, our bodies take swift and essential action to protect us. Once we get to the point of experiencing dizziness and light-headedness when not hydrating enough we need to get to a water supply STAT. Being parched is a serious condition.

Our son Andrew loves extraordinary physical challenges, so he has progressed from running half-marathons, to full marathons, and then took what seemed to us a quantum leap into the world of ultra-marathons. Recently, he began a 100 mile run in the heat and sunny terrain of the Rocky Mountains that went quite well until his water supply diminished and the distance to the next aid station was further than usual. By the time he reached the station, his body was sending those signals that indicated that it was urgently in need of water. He was quickly hydrated but not soon enough to get the water to every cell in his body to restore him to enough strength to carry on with the energy he needed to continue the entire journey. In post-run analysis, he realized that he had underestimated how much water he needed to carry during that critical stretch.

Being parched is a serious condition.

Those biological indications of our need for water to quench the thirstiness that is part of our lives have parallels to the thirst that we have for emotional and spiritual refreshment to keep us going. As we stay in touch with the world around us, we cannot escape news bulletin after news bulletin of violence, hatred, corruption, deceit, and devastating natural disasters. I’m feeling parched just thinking about all of that.

The demands of our “marathon” lives can nearly deplete us as we give and do and give and do some more. We know what it is to be nearly parched in spirit as daily life takes its toll. When circumstances add extra burdens in daily life, we become thirsty for that which can refresh and fill us.

Our sister-in-law Erin was having an extremely demoralizing day last week. My brother died unexpectedly in June, leaving Erin and all of us heartbroken.The profound grief she is experiencing is taxing enough. When obstacles arise that pose extra stress, she becomes understandably drained.

Erin encountered one such obstacle as she attempted to close the cell phone account for her husband’s phone. It was obviously not needed anymore, so she set off with documentation she was told would be sufficient to accomplish the task. Only it wasn’t. At the first store, she was told to go to another to complete that process. When the second location, sent her on to an office in another part of the city, she dutifully went there.

So when the third office told her it was not possible to close this account, the whole process overwhelmed her.

As she walked away from this last most disappointing encounter, she was disconsolate. So very weary and so very frustrated, she walked the halls from the office toward her car, with tears streaming down her cheeks. Her spirit was parched to say the least.

As she approached the door to the outside of the building, she noticed a group of four young boys that she estimated to be around 12 years old. One of them stepped up toward her, saying, “Hey, are you okay? need some help?” The other three stood looking at her with concern, prompting the tears she had desperately tried to hold to a minimum to come bursting forth. The exact words that were then shared between them were not shared with me. What was related about the incident was the gratitude Erin felt at what she received from these earnest young boys. They could not solve her problem, but they could and did provide something else of which she was in need. After her experienced that left her drained, parched even, she was thirsting for kindness.

A woman arrives at a well on a hot and dusty day in Samaria. It has become her habit to arrive at the well around noon, for reasons we can only speculate. She probably hoped she could get there, procure the supply of water for which she’d come, and then hurry back to the relative coolness of her home. Little did she expect anyone else to be there, certainly not the type of person she encountered on that day. A Jewish rabbi is near the well. Instead of diverting his eyes and keeping his distance as she would have expected, he looks at her and requests a drink of water from her.

This is too much for her. She questions why he would do such a thing. After all, there are social restrictions she has lived with all her life. He is a Jew and he is a man. She is a Samaritan and a female. Those religious and gender barriers in her experience mean that conversation and sharing of drink vessels are forbidden. So she pushes back. “Why in the world are you asking me, a woman of Samaria for a drink”? And so begins the longest recorded conversation of Jesus with anyone in all of the New Testament.

Jesus was likely very thirsty so his request was not bogus. But he initiated conversation with her so that she might become aware of her own thirst, a thirst deeper than water could satisfy. How did he know she was thirsty for kindness? Well, isn’t everyone? It’s a pretty universal thing if you think about it. Should we ever wonder if someone we encounter is interested in receiving kindness? We are all pretty desperate for it, if we are honest.

Jesus had intentionally taken his disciples on this route through Samaria, even though that made them uncomfortable. It seems he might have been on a bridge-building, kindness-offering campaign. He is very well aware that his asking a Samaritan woman for a drink willl surprise her at his openness to speaking with her. She was thirsty for kindness, a very precious commodity. As their conversation goes on, it becomes apparent that Jesus knows everything about her. Yet as the conversation goes toward subjects she’d rather not address, Jesus continues to talk with her and treat her with respect.

I wonder how many times she felt uneasy and said to herself, “This is really getting uncomfortable. Is this guy up to something? Trying to sign me up for life insurance? I should just head back home.” If she did have that conversation with herself, it was set aside as she became intrigued  enough to keep from moving away. An intangible gift was being given, the gift of  kindness. True kindness has much more depth to it than niceness or politeness. It’s an attribute of God shared many times over throughout the Bible. Kindness, steadfast love, acceptance, care, friendship…..compassion, mercy.

Isaiah 54:8 describes God as saying, “with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you.

God’s character is described in many places throughout scripture as exhibiting extraordinary kindness. This is from Titus 3:4-5: “When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy.

Our APCE Annual Event in January 2024 is designed to be a time to quench the thirst that is part of our lives. We are contemplating the kindness exhibited by Jesus to the woman he met at a Samaritan well, as part of our preparation for sharing with you on the theme of Thirsting for Kindness. We invite you to dwell in John 4 and note the kindness of Jesus in quenching her deep thirst for more than what physical water can do. For each of us, kindness received is life-changing and sustaining. Come along for the ride and join us in the quest to wonder at the immense kindness of our God in Christ and receive that which brings refreshment to our parched spirits. See you in January friends!