Lessons from the African Wilderness

In elementary school we sang a song that goes, "The stars at night are big and bright (clap, clap, clap, clap) deep in the heart of Texas!" What no one told me was that the stars at night in the remotest parts of Africa are alive.  On a trip this weekend, Philip and I climbed on top of the truck after putting the kids to bed to look in awe up at the sky.  Our conversation turned to how this resembled God's intentions with creation- brilliant wonder in the fabric of ordinary days.

Just then, we heard something in the trees to our left.  The joy drained from the moment with every step of the creature in our midst.  Though the risk of actual danger was probably low, too many times this year we have lived through something while saying, "This cannot possibly be really happening."  To be mauled by an African animal while our children watch from the windows is NOT on my bucket list.  I wanted to jump up and sprint to the door.  Philip made me lie down and stay still, saying panic kills people.  After listening to the threat forever  for a few minutes, he agreed to my whimpering pleas and we raced for the shelter.  Once inside I burst into relieved tears.

As we resumed star gazing from inside, I moaned, "That sure did ruin things."

But Philip had a different perspective.  "Perhaps that timing was perfect.  Those who live under the brilliance of these stars at night also live with the threat of wild animals.  Perhaps the two are intimately entwined and we fool ourselves to think we can have one without the other.  We want the brilliance of God without his terrifying parts.  We choose spiritual safety, not realizing what it costs us.  God is reminding us there's more to Him, in beauty and danger, than our comfortable little lives will let us know."

Will we let Him?

Wikipedia will tell you this country is hot and dry country this time of year.  This is true.  We are in the Sahel region of Africa with dirt blowing in from the Sahara Desert and water shortages on the horizon before the rains come.  This makes the presence of waterfalls, hidden off the beaten trail, all the more striking.  What do you think of a God who puts waterfalls in the desert?

It reminds me of the story we told Nathan and Andy about when Titus was born.  With two children, we decided to be responsible adults and have our wills made.  At the time, Philip's sister and brother-in-law were the ideal option to become guardians of our children except for one little thing.  They were making plans to move to Africa.  Therefore, in 2007, our Last Will and Testament read that Thomas and Sara would become guardians of our children "unless they move to Africa."  In that situation, the deal was off.  They were not to take our children to Africa.  It was official.  Someone else would raise our children because we were fundamentally opposed to our kids going to Africa.

Literally, the week before we moved here in 2013, we had to redo our will to remove that clause now that WE were the crazy ones moving our kids to Africa.

As I look at these pictures and think about a God who puts waterfalls in a dry land, and Mathenys in Africa, I think what other illogical things does He want to do?  And do we have the faith to let Him?

Visitors and Gospel Vignettes, 2

Part of the purpose of Nathan and Andy's visit was better understand our lives and ministry here to communicate it with the church in the States.  It's a funny thing putting our story in someone else's hands.  Did we show them enough?  Did we communicate clearly?  How can three years of living be condensed into one week of visiting?

It made me think of the great risk God took entrusting his story to us.

"The risk that we will badly misrepresent him.  Slavery, the Crusades, pogroms against Jews, colonialism, wars, the Ku Klux Klan - all these movements have claimed the sanction of Christ for their cause.  The world God wants to love, the world God is appealing to, may never see him; our own faces may get in the way."  (Disappointment with God, Philip Yancey)

Likely Andy and Nathan will tell our story better than we have.  By divine inspiration, they had the idea to interview our national workers and capture the story of our lives here directly from the ones who are impacted.  To continue the analogy, I think this video represents Scripture and the Spirit as the firsthand accounts we use to tell God's story.

Can you imagine our great and mighty God put his reputation in our hands?  He took that risk and now we, his followers, are the image of God in the world.

Let us be so.

Visitors and Gospel Vignettes, 1

The visit by two guys from our home church presented a unique opportunity to use their luggage space to send gifts back to friends in Kentucky.  Into what began as a fun idea, stress invaded as I questioned finding enough gifts or the right gifts.  Something was not right.

God explained my uneasiness to me this way:  Trinkets are trivial.  The real gift is Andy and Nathan.

When Andy and Nathan have seen the Kingdom in new ways, experienced God in new places, been stretched and blessed in African style, they will be changed.  Not only for themselves, but as blessing for the Church.  What souvenir could top that?

I still sent a few gifts back, but mostly I watched to see what God was going to do in Andy and Nathan because that is His gift.

When you think about it, this is what Jesus did for the world.  When he ascended, he left behind a group of changed people.  We who have experienced his love and glimpsed his glory are his gift to the world.

Let it be so.