By Name

We are in the thick of our English Village summer camp. Here’s the logistics: over thirty students, just two teachers; a range of topics to cover, only three weeks to do it. It’s been quite a ride. On our first morning, it took an hour just to do introductions and get to know each other by name.

Last week, I taught about buying an airplane ticket and visiting a new country. Our chosen destination: Texas, USA! At that time, we also went around the room and helped each student decipher their full name in English. I used my own passport as an example and said aloud: “My full name is Paul Friedrich Matthies.” Upon saying it, it felt vaguely strange yet refreshing. I haven’t heard my full name spoken in months.

My friends and students here have a difficult time pronouncing English names correctly (and vice versa). The closest they come to my name is “pull” or “pool.” They don’t even attempt Matthies. Though, when playing the card game Crazy Eights, they discovered that my name sounds similar to the Korean word for eight (8 = pal/팔). The name of the game then became Crazy Teacher Pool in my honor.

In Texas, I would often hear my friends call out “Hey Paul Matthies” in the church halls or at social gatherings. I had forgotten, until recently, how great it is to be called by name.

My dear friend Ashlee sent me a care package last week. She was in Texas visiting family, before returning to her own work in Thailand, at the border of Burma. When I opened the package, I discovered that she had taken the time to make a hand-crafted nameplate for me. I was deeply touched. I immediately found a place for it. Now, when I close my bedroom door at night, tired and weary on this lonely journey, I will always remember that I am known by name. Looking at that name plate, I was also comforted again by a theme verse for me: “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me” (John 16:32).

When I was living in China, my faithful friends Julie and Gina also sent me a very personalized care package. In it, they included colored paper with Bible verses that they had written out and decorated by hand. The note read: “We have been praying over these passages for you.” How amazing to know that I was being prayed for by name! (In return, I would ask you to pray for Gina’s family by name—her mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Please lift up the Pavlicek’s.)

My thoughts this past week have also gone to the importance of “calling upon the name of the Lord.” In our daily need, all we need do is call upon His name, and He will answer and set our feet upon a rock. And we don’t just pray to any name for God. He is not a “Great Life Force” or “Buddha” or “Muhammad.” No, we pray in the name of Jesus—the revealed Messiah, the true son of God, the savior of the world. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

So wonderfully sweet it is that Jesus, the good shepherd, in turn knows each of us by name! He has counted the hairs on our heads and knows where the sparrow falls. “To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:3). We are known and loved.

I am also reminded that it is the call of our lives—those of us who, known by name, also call upon His great name—to become a voice for the voiceless and to give a name to the nameless. First, we go and tell the good news to those who have not heard. Then, we come back to our communities and use whatever platforms we have to share the stories of saints around the world. While visiting the IDP camp in Kenya, I was moved by what I saw. Though their lives had endured terrible trials, their hearts still carried deep faith. We asked one of the elders, “Joseph, what can we do to serve the people here?” He simply replied, “Tell our story.” He trusted in the Lord to provide from there.

There are men in the fields, women in the huts, and children in the streets who simply desire for someone to learn their name, befriend them, and share their story—as their hearts also providentially long to hear the good news, call upon the name of the Lord, and become a friend of God. How will they hear without a preacher? It then becomes crucial for us at the Church to also support those who have left behind “making a name for themselves” to go, make disciples, and become a voice for the voiceless.

Sadly, in some church settings, the voiceless get neglected due to the politics, agendas, selfishness, and legalism. And now, in the modern time’s mega-church, the people who serve as their voices often get pushed aside due to the many requests, time constraints, corporate outlook, and creative control. Names get lost in the numbers. Raw and gritty stories get swallowed up in polished and pretty stages. So we, as the Body of Christ, should also use whatever personal pulpits and platforms we have to speak out.

In my previous post entitled Heroes (click "Older Posts" below), I listed the names of those who inspire me by being the salt and light of the world. For my part, I have a beautiful nameplate on my door to remind me that I am prayed for by name. When you have a moment, would you also serve me by praying for them and writing their stories on your heart as well?