someday a bright new wave will break upon that shore, and there will be no sickness, no more crying, no more war...
no malaria. no insect bites that swell dreadfully and cause pain and trouble walking. no tears. none. can you imagine? tears are a big part of our lives. we say goodbye. again. we miss people who live on another continent. we lay to rest loved ones to never see alive on this earth again. we grieve for the pain and heartache we see as a result of sin in the lives of those we love. we at times may shed tears of righteous indignation when we see blatant sin. but some day, some SWEET day, there will be NO more sickness or crying.
...and little children never will grow hungry anymore...
can you imagine? never! no hungry tummies rumbling for food. no legs and arms that are too skinny from malnutrition.
someday we know not when, when time on earth is done and those redeemed from every land will all become as one, with voices of all ages praising God the three in one, and there will be a bright new morning over there, there'll be a bright new world for us to share.
the Bible tells us that there will be some from every tribe, every kindred, every nation, every tongue gathered around the throne worshiping the Lamb of God forever and ever. No language barriers, no night, no sin. A bright NEW world we'll share.
But for today, we are still on earth. Sometimes it may feel unfair, when all one wants to do is join those who have gone on before, but I'm reminded that our work isn't finished yet. God's purposes are very much alive and thriving, and He wants to use each one of us to be a part of compelling those from every land who have not yet received that wonderful gift of salvation which will enable them to have a part in praising God around His throne.
Our hearts are burdened for our people. Lately, it seems as if the intensity of the battle has been rising and we find ourselves wrestling with the burden of their souls. Our neighborhood is a very dark place. Our neighbors drink pombe (local beer) until they cannot think logically, and major fights break out. There was a terrible fight between several of our neighbor women just a few days ago. I was laid up with a very swollen foot, so didn't see it take place, but Beka returned with burning eyes and heart full of pain as she related the violence. Women wildly hurling bricks at others, one descending upon another with one of their huge farm hoes. Angry words spewed forth, full of hate. They talked about it the next day, and readily admit to Beka that it's not right. Comments are made how bad habits need to be changed. Meanwhile, we watch, share truth, and pray because we know it's not simply a matter of bad habits being changed, these dear people need JESUS to come and change them from the inside out.
One day we had a patient come initially complaining of headaches and dizziness, as well as something about an insect walking in her head. It didn't take many questions before it was obvious we were dealing with something more then a physical or medical problem. I called Beka in to join me, as my language ability isn't good enough to handle a situation like this yet. With some more probing, we learned that at times this "insect" crawls over head and down across her eyes, and when it does, it makes her dizzy and then unconscious. Sometimes 'it' goes in her throat and constricts so that she is unable to eat, and at other times 'it' travels up and down her back. Such bondage! Truth was shared, but they told us they already tried church and weren't interested. The husband showed a hint of interest, but his poor wife- bound by the spirits- even refused us to pray over her. As they walked out of the clinic, our hearts were heavy but we reminded each other that even if she refuses us to pray over her, she can't refuse us to pray FOR her. So pray we have. Oh may Jesus receive the reward for His suffering!
I've been spending a lot of time in continued Swahili study, and I'm not sure if I can really write anything about that that would be worth reading about! Unless of course you are deeply fascinated with the struggles of Swahili grammer- subjunctives, noun classes, piles of new vocabulary words to study...yeah, I didn't think so, I'll keep it to myself. :)
The past while I've been praying that God will infuse me with a renewed vision and passion for His heart for the world, as well as His heart for His children. I've been feeling that I've not been experiencing nearly enough of Him in my life and I've been aching to find more life and passion in my heart. God has been answering my prayer above and beyond what I've been asking for, through various routes. For one, we girls have been reading through the book "What in the World is God Waiting For?", which is about the fulfillment of the Great Commission and how passionate God is that His people be ends of the earth minded. It could be easy to look at my life as say, 'well, i must be doing something right because I am here at "the ends of the earth" if you will, so I must be okay'... but God has been stripping me of all potential of having those thoughts and showing me areas of my life that needed serious renewal. Then on Wednesday night we watched the documentary on the Moravian Mission Machine, (totally worth the time, btw- I think every Christian should study on the Moravians!) and their testimony and the radical way they believed they were called to live shook me to my core and brought me to a new level of understanding what truly God is looking for. The way they utilized prayer is incredible, and has been changing my experience as well. I'm so thankful for the example of saints in days gone by who can spur us on to living a true, radical Christian life. I have to think of a David Livingstone quote I happened upon recently... "I have found that I have no unusual endowments of intellect, but this day I resolve that I will be an uncommon Christian." I do think it's incredibly sad that what God's heart for His people in the Bible is, now has to be considered uncommon because of how lukewarm Christianity in our world has become. Radical Christianity is what the Bible is talking about, and we only have one life to live- people, lets make it worth living! Let's not just waste our days by living some halfhearted version of being as Christian as we can to get by. We have something worth living for, and the world needs to hear it!
I've been reading in Luke the past few days and particularly the passage in chapter 4:15-16 stood out to me where it talks about how multitudes came to Jesus to hear His teaching and to be healed. His fame went abroad..."and He withdrew Himself into the wilderness and prayed". Such a key thought here, if Jesus felt drained from giving and giving to needy people, how much more we? If Jesus felt the need to get away alone and pray, how much more we? We short change ourselves and the people we're ministering to by trying to do things on our own strength.
It's now a quiet Saturday morning. The neighborhood echoes mainly with only the sounds of the birds and passing motorcycles. Most of our people are out farming, and we are enjoying a laid back morning at home. A few people dropped by seeking medical advice, and Mama Glanti scrubbed some of our laundry, but mostly we're just working on updates and talking amongst ourselves.
Rebecca has been helping Mama Glanti start a bread baking and selling business, as a way to supplement her income, which she badly needs. Selling pombe (local beer) has been the main way women make money, and of course we aren't advocates of that at all, so if we encourage Ma Glanti to not make pombe to sell, then we need to come up with an alternative! When the Lapp's were here, Paul and Ben built a beautiful brick oven, so Beka and Ma Glanti have been baking loaves of bread and experimenting with the technique, trying their best to get it right. After some challenges (one time the fire was too hot, and another time it was not hot enough), I think they're slowly figuring out what the oven needs to bake evenly and nicely. Pray that Mama Glanti's business would take off (it's showing encouraging signs of doing just that...loaves of yeast bread is not something that is available here in the village, yet people really do like it.), and that it would provide her the income she needs to feed her family.
Continue to pray for the biweekly Bible classes held right here among our neighbors. This past Tuesday there was an excellent turn out- the kivuli (porch) over at Zeiset's was full and overflowing, and it was exciting to hear the word of God being spoken to their hearts. Thursday for various reasons, it didn't happen, but we continue to pray that God will work in the the hearts of our people- and He truly is! I've mentioned our 17 year old neighbor boy, Basili, a time or two, I believe...tho I don't think I shared how several weeks ago he made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as His Savior! It's been very exciting seeing his thirst for truth and the difference Jesus has made in his life! I never heard him sing before, and now you almost can't find a time when he isn't singing when he's over at his mom's house beside ours. I have to smile quite big every time I hear his voice strongly ringing in hymns of praise. Did I ever mention that I absolutely love watching God work in people's hearts?! Well, I do! :)
"missions (or life) is not about "what can I spare?" the question is "what's it going to take?" risk. abandon. sacrifice. radical dependence on Christ. EVERYTHING. are you passionately committed to God's glory among all peoples?"
-asialink worker
just a little part of God's great, big plan...
Kim
No comments:
Post a Comment