Sunday, October 16, 2011

This is James.

He loves trucks and motorcars.
I had the opportunity, or else asked for the opportunity, to stay the night in the village of Masongbo. It is the village of one of my Sierra Leone "Families". Mohammed is a driver with World Hope International and has been the one who has looked after me for nearly all of my travels in Country. He has become my Sierra Leone father as he watches out for my safety and has helped me in many cultural situations. When I asked about sleeping in his village he was very excited and immediately began planning the menu and activities.
After arriving it was not long before nearly the whole village gathered to warmly welcome me and voice their surprise of a white woman sleeping in the village. However, it was not the excitement of a white woman in the village that drew James near. His eyes had seen the truck and all he wanted was a ride! Many in the village have never rode inside a vehicle as many we have offered rides to are unsure of how to open or close the door.  James had never rode in one but he had seen them before and without doubt his little kid mind was positive that riding in one was going to be great! Of course I asked Mohammed to let us give this little boy a ride and I sat beside him videoing the moment. I captured a priceless video of this little boys happiness but the joy of that moment is not on video but inscribed on my heart.
This little boy was very sure of what he wanted and the joy and contentment that rested on him after this moment in the truck was clearly visible. A picture of our needs being met in Christ comes to mind. He gives us inexpressible joy, one that rests deep in our souls. In moments like this I am reminded of how grateful I am to Christ for this gift. Sometimes it just takes a little boy and a pickup truck to show us this.




Philippians 2:1-4 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Moments


So I am going to share with you what I just read, such an odd story in 1 Kings 13…. We have Jeroboam, the new king of the Israelites (excluding the house of Judah which remained in the house of David still ruled under David’s grandson) this Jeroboam was given Israel because Rehoboam (David’s grandson) had missed his chance to receive God’s grace. So Rehoboam becomes fearful of David’s God and makes new gods for Israel. These influential people begin to worship two gold calves and in comes this Man of God (MOG) from none-other than Judah. The MOG speaks against Rehoboam and Reho gets upset and extends his arm to seize him and then his arm shrivels! So Reho becomes distraught, asks the MOG to pray for him, he does, Reho is healed and the MOG heads on his way listening to God’s rules not to stop and eat. However, on his merry way home the MOG is stopped by an old prophet, who lies, and brings back the MOG to come eat at his table. God then talks to the old prophet to make him tell the MOG that he will now die because he did not listen to the word of the Lord to not eat, and it happens, the MOG does die, killed by a lion! Then the old prophet has the nerve to say, “he was killed, as the word of the LORD warned him.”
WHAT?! This certainly does not seem fair? Seems like some major injustices here. We have selfishness, fake repentance, lying… and guess who dies?!  I am not sure what God is trying to say in all of this but I feel confused after reading this. Who am I in this passage? I know at any one time I could be any of these men. I selfishly and grudgingly argued with my taxi driver the other day because there was misunderstanding and I ended up paying a whole 50 cents instead of 25 cents for my taxi ride! Come on, that’s double the price of everyone else who paid! Not fair! (I know… How ridiculous I am…)
Looking at the MOG it seems that he did everything right on the surface. He went and told Reho he was in the wrong to be worshiping gold calves, God was obviously with him as he was able to heal Reho’s hand, and then when asked to eat and drink with the king, he declines knowing the Lord asked him to continue without refreshments, even if they were served at the kings table as tempting as that would be. Then as he is minding his own business, on his way out of town, a prophet stops him and tells him it is all right, God told him to come back and eat.  It is not always easy to discern when you fall into the traps that the world has set for us. It is likely the MOG very well thought of this as a good intention, surely he can trust this prophet. This was not the case, however, and the MOG paid a high cost. We do not know the full story of this Man of God but underneath it all he listened to the world instead of God’s instructions. I am guilty, falling into many traps of this world, praise God for his mercy and lack of lions here in Sierra Leone. It is not an action that leads us away from the God. It is when our heart turns towards the desires of the World instead of God’s but in those moments we can be covered by grace and the more we recognize this grace, we continue to learn and grow.
 Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works, if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
I do not know how things would have went if I would have given my 50 cents joyfully instead of grudgingly to the taxi driver. Maybe it would not have made a big difference but I pray that I can continue to learn from these moments. In a country in so much need to break free from persecution, corruption, and poverty, God can use the small moments to build into bringing his Kingdom to earth. Moments like when I first met David, a moment of deciding whether to speak up and ask the father for their address or should I just leave them be. It was the Holy Spirit who led me that moment and has led me through so many amazing God moments here. David was very ill just a few months ago, nearly dead you could say. However, this little boy is now full of the life a little 18 month old life should be! His smile can light up a room and his laugh captures your heart. What an incredible story of beauty this boy has been through. The family is Muslim but from the moment I met them I have been praying for this little boy and have had many others praying for him and his family. They are a beautiful family and have a love and devotion to one another. I pray that one day they will recognize the devotion that Christ has towards them, his grace and love at no cost.
I also have met some incredible young people with disabilities here and have, of course, a special place in my heart for them. What a whole new level of glory I have seen revealed through them here. I have never seen someone at such a disadvantage in their setting and still remain so full of ambition to overcome it. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to get to know Hannah and James, two kids who live out in the villages. They and their families are setting a huge example to those around them to demonstrate that, these are the ones who will inherit the kingdom of God with their ability to accept circumstances way before you and I would. Like my sister they not only accept their disability but utilize it to become a strength, an opportunity, a way to grow and extend, to make a difference and to challenge their families, neighbors, their society to rise to this same occasion. I cannot imagine the difficulties faced by them here but am totally in awe of what many of them have chosen to do with it. As my last three weeks is coming to, I pray for moments. Moments to have my eyes open to God’s movement and the beauty of those he is moving in.