Sometimes life has a way of hitting you and shifting you. Even though I have been a missionary to Europe and Latin America, both short and long term, I had never set foot on the African continent. And this was something so transformative, I am begging God that this experience would not be lost on me.
Full disclosure- I am in my late 50's and going through what people may call a mid life crisis. I have a beautiful, wise, Christian therapist who is helping me undo the mis identity I have adhered to through the years and truly be free. Thank God for godly, spiritual leaders!
Africa solidified this for me in the most loving and remarkable way.
I went to Rwanda and I don't think anyone could understand this country, if we don't understand the genocide. Decades in the making, this hatred and racial division finally came to a bursting point one dark day in April 1994, when neighbor turned against neighbor. Our translators, who were medical/dental students, residents, believers, told us some of their stories and others they were closely acquainted with.
One knew of a couple of neighboring families, each of which had 11 year old sons. These boys went to school and church together. The day of the massacre, one boy killed the other. And when all was said and done, only the assassin and the mother of the assassinated survived. She ended up visiting him in prison, and eventually, they ended up living as mother and son.
Another story- from the Genocide Memorial. One man remembers, crying, how his Mom ran that day with 5 children, like many, seeking refuge in the stadium. That become a place of horror too, as the militia came down and threw hand grenades at them and also slaughtered who they caught. The Mom told her kids to sit down, that they were all going to die that day, and that they were going to so with dignity, together. This man, an older boy then, could not obey. Terror made him run, and he made it. That day he lost everything, but was thankful for the existence of the Genocide Memorial.
I was deeply humbled by the stoicism, forgiveness, thankfulness, dignity, lamb likeness of the African people. They are truly Isaiah 53 people. None of us want to be a man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief, despised and rejected by men, and silent when led to the slaughter. But that is our calling. God help us be more like the Africans!!
We go to all sorts of countries, and we do have some things to teach and some things to give. However, that may pale in comparison to what we need to learn, if we are willing to learn. We identify so much more with our accomplishments, experiences, travel logs, American freedoms and lifestyle, you name it, than with Jesus, a tender and vulnerable shoot- unprotected, in dry ground, unsecured, ignored at best; unattractive in all respects to our current culture. Lord, help us be like you and understand we need to learn from the people we are serving, much deeper things maybe than we could ever teach them.
I come back from Africa more free than I have ever been, more desirous of Jesus, more willing to share him and be like him. I also know He will do wonders with our willingness. And one day, one glorious day, we will understand what obedience and faithfulness in the unseen places meant for the kingdom. Our labor is not in vain, our secret battles are huge wins and our life is hid in Christ with God, and one day we will get the full story. Jesus could only do what He did because He knew who He was, where He came from and where He would be going. We can do it too, as we realize who we have living in us, where we came from and where we are going, Lord helping us all.
Unhindered, free, dead, gloriously effective even if we do not know it. Makes us so, Lord.
Thank you GHO!! You awesome brothers and sisters in the Lord. And may the next generation be more Christlike and beautiful than we ever were,
Full disclosure- I am in my late 50's and going through what people may call a mid life crisis. I have a beautiful, wise, Christian therapist who is helping me undo the mis identity I have adhered to through the years and truly be free. Thank God for godly, spiritual leaders!
Africa solidified this for me in the most loving and remarkable way.
I went to Rwanda and I don't think anyone could understand this country, if we don't understand the genocide. Decades in the making, this hatred and racial division finally came to a bursting point one dark day in April 1994, when neighbor turned against neighbor. Our translators, who were medical/dental students, residents, believers, told us some of their stories and others they were closely acquainted with.
One knew of a couple of neighboring families, each of which had 11 year old sons. These boys went to school and church together. The day of the massacre, one boy killed the other. And when all was said and done, only the assassin and the mother of the assassinated survived. She ended up visiting him in prison, and eventually, they ended up living as mother and son.
Another story- from the Genocide Memorial. One man remembers, crying, how his Mom ran that day with 5 children, like many, seeking refuge in the stadium. That become a place of horror too, as the militia came down and threw hand grenades at them and also slaughtered who they caught. The Mom told her kids to sit down, that they were all going to die that day, and that they were going to so with dignity, together. This man, an older boy then, could not obey. Terror made him run, and he made it. That day he lost everything, but was thankful for the existence of the Genocide Memorial.
I was deeply humbled by the stoicism, forgiveness, thankfulness, dignity, lamb likeness of the African people. They are truly Isaiah 53 people. None of us want to be a man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief, despised and rejected by men, and silent when led to the slaughter. But that is our calling. God help us be more like the Africans!!
We go to all sorts of countries, and we do have some things to teach and some things to give. However, that may pale in comparison to what we need to learn, if we are willing to learn. We identify so much more with our accomplishments, experiences, travel logs, American freedoms and lifestyle, you name it, than with Jesus, a tender and vulnerable shoot- unprotected, in dry ground, unsecured, ignored at best; unattractive in all respects to our current culture. Lord, help us be like you and understand we need to learn from the people we are serving, much deeper things maybe than we could ever teach them.
I come back from Africa more free than I have ever been, more desirous of Jesus, more willing to share him and be like him. I also know He will do wonders with our willingness. And one day, one glorious day, we will understand what obedience and faithfulness in the unseen places meant for the kingdom. Our labor is not in vain, our secret battles are huge wins and our life is hid in Christ with God, and one day we will get the full story. Jesus could only do what He did because He knew who He was, where He came from and where He would be going. We can do it too, as we realize who we have living in us, where we came from and where we are going, Lord helping us all.
Unhindered, free, dead, gloriously effective even if we do not know it. Makes us so, Lord.
Thank you GHO!! You awesome brothers and sisters in the Lord. And may the next generation be more Christlike and beautiful than we ever were,