© 2013 The Wired Word
A family from Arizona who fled the U.S. over three months ago in a sailboat
to escape what they consider government interference in religion were due to
fly back home last Sunday.After deciding "to take a leap of faith and see where God led us," Sean Gastonguay, 30, and his wife Hannah, 26, set sail from San Diego in May with their daughters, toddler Ardith and baby Rahab, and Sean's father Mike. Their goal was the underdeveloped, sparsely populated, remote island nation of Kiribati just off the equator and the international dateline, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia.
The voyage went well at first, but within weeks, their small vessel sustained damage from "squall after squall after squall," causing them to drift, unsure of their position and unable to move forward on their journey. "We were in the thick of it, but we prayed," Hannah said. "I just knew I was going to see some miracles" and "next thing you know, the sun is out. It's amazing."
They felt like they were in a "twilight zone," low on supplies, down to "some juice and some honey." Hannah said they were able to catch fish, but they didn't see any boats. Still, they didn't feel their situation was hopeless. "We didn't feel like we were going to die or anything. We believed God would see us through," she said.
At one point they made contact with a fishing ship which rendered no assistance. Later, a Canadian cargo vessel damaged the sailboat further as it came alongside in an attempt to resupply the family. Eventually, a helicopter spotted them, leading to their rescue by a Venezuelan fishing vessel, where they rested for about five days before transferring to a Japanese cargo ship that docked in Chile three weeks later. All told, they were on the water for 91 days.
U.S. Embassy officials -- officials of the same government the Gastonguays criticize for its policies regarding abortion, homosexuality and the blurring of the lines between church and state -- arranged for their flights home.
Hannah stated that our government increasingly interferes with the constitutional right of Americans to freedom of religion. U.S. "churches aren't their own," she said. "[We object to being] forced to pay ... taxes ... for abortions we don't agree with." They don't belong to a local church, but stated that their beliefs come from reading the Bible and praying. "The Bible is pretty clear," Hannah said.
Hannah Gastonguay said the family will now "go back to Arizona" and "come up with a new plan." More on this story can be found at this link:
Religious Family Leaves US, Gets Lost at Sea. Yahoo! News
The Big Questions
1. Whether or not you agree with the Gastonguays' religious beliefs, what do you think of the way they handled their discontent with the U.S. government and culture?
2. When you feel pressure to conform to a society that increasingly scoffs at your beliefs or that seems bent on undermining your faith, how do you react?
3. What beliefs, if any, do you hold for which you would be willing to risk your life and forsake your homeland?
4. Have you ever felt God calling you as he called Abram and apparently his father Terah before him (Genesis 11:31-32 and 12:1, 4-5) to abandon everything to follow him to a land he would show you? How did you respond?
5. What is the difference between making a move in obedience to the call of God and making a move to escape God's call?
6. How might the Gastonguays' understanding of where God was/is calling them be different if they were a part of a local congregation and sought to discern God's will not only with the aid of Scripture and prayer but also of fellow Christians? How do all these things work together to help you discern God's will?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Genesis 19:12-17
Then the men said to Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city -- bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it." So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, "Up, get out of this place; for the LORD is about to destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be consumed in the punishment of the city." But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and left him outside the city. When they had brought them outside, they said, "Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, or else you will be consumed." (For context, read 19:12-30.)
After Abram and his family moved to Canaan, Abram offered his nephew Lot first dibs on whichever land appealed to him. So Lot chose the verdant valley where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were located, not fully reckoning with the wickedness of the people who lived there. When God prepared to destroy the cities, he sent messengers to call Lot out of danger.
Questions: What would you think if someone told you to flee because God was about to destroy your city? How do you know whether you should take such a warning seriously? What might cause you to linger or to hesitate before taking action? Have you ever felt that your life, faith or values might be at risk if you stayed where you were? What did you do?
Jonah 1:3-4; 3:1-3
But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. ... The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, "Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you." So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. (For context, read 1:1-4; 3:1-5, 10.)
God called Jonah not away from the wickedness of the world, but into the very heart of darkness in the great city of Nineveh, to "cry out against it" and its wickedness. But Jonah boarded a ship headed in the opposite direction. He didn't get very far before the vessel was battered so badly that it was on the verge of breaking up. After he told the frightened pagan sailors that he was to blame for their losses, they threw him overboard at his insistence, and the storm passed, saving their lives. Later, Jonah was given a second chance and did follow the Lord's call to preach to the people of Nineveh.
Questions: Is it really possible to escape the wickedness in the world simply by changing your address? Explain your answer. Would you say that God sent the Gastonguay family storms to redirect them or to give them a chance to rethink their course of action? Why or why not? What message might God give the Gastonguay family for America? Did any of your ancestors come to America to escape religious persecution? Briefly share their story with the class.
Luke 9:1-2, 4-5
Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. ... Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." (For context, read 9:1-6.)
Questions: If the message and ministry Jesus entrusts to his disciples is "good news," why do you think some people do not perceive it that way? Do you think the Gastonguays were "shaking the dust off their feet" as a testimony against those who have not welcomed them or the message of Jesus? Why or why not?
1 John 2:15-17
Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world -- the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches -- comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever. (No context needed.)
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (No context needed.)
Some scholars believe that these passages were penned by the same person: the apostle John. Yet he appears to contradict himself, quoting Jesus in John 3:16 as saying that God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son to save everyone who would believe in him, while in 1 John 2:15 he says the love of the Father is not in those who love the world.
Questions: How do you reconcile these two seemingly contradictory statements? How can we love the world in the John 3:16 sense while not loving the world in the 1 John 2:15-17 sense? (Hint: Does "the world" mean the same thing in the two passages?) What reasons does John give for Christ-followers not to love the world? According to these passages, what is eternal, and why does it make sense to devote your life to what will last forever?
Leviticus 20:7-8, 26
Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the LORD your God. Keep my statutes, and observe them; I am the LORD; I sanctify you. ... You shall be holy to me; for I the LORD am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine. (No context needed.)
God instructed the Hebrew people to come out from among the pagan people and be holy, separate, set apart to be God's people. Peter uses similar language to describe Christians in 1 Peter 2:9 ("But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people ...").
Questions: To what extent does this command apply to Christians? How do you live out this command in our culture?
For Further Discussion
1. Read John 15:9 and 17:14-19. What does Jesus mean when he says that he has chosen his disciples out of the world, and that they do not belong to the world, just as he does not belong to the world? At the same time, he prays, "I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. ... As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world." What does it mean to you that Jesus does not ask the Father to remove you from the world, but rather to protect you from the evil one while he (Jesus) sends you into the world?
2. Paul tells the Philippians to "be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world" (Philippians 2:15, italics added). James writes that part of pure and undefiled religion is "to keep oneself unstained by the world" (James 1:27). What does it mean to be "in the world but not of it"? What spiritual disciplines help you live a holy life, "blameless and innocent, ... without blemish," unstained by the world, shining like stars even while you live "in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation"?
3. What do Ephesians 5:25-27 and 1 John 1:7-9 add to your understanding of how Christians are able to live holy, clean lives, without any "spot or wrinkle"?
Responding to the News
Read Psalm 107:23-32. What "deeds of the LORD" and "wondrous works in the deep" did the Gastonguays see during their 91 days at sea? What should the family do now, according to this passage? When God rescues you after you have been lost at sea (literally or figuratively), how do you think you should react?
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