Am I Faithful With One???

I had a reminder again today about something that God showed me in college. I remember one day after chapel, I was really excited. I was walking down the sidewalk thinking about the thousands of people that I would love to lead to Christ. Then God gave me this thought, or should I say that He hit me with this 2"x 4", "Why should I give you thousands to lead when I cannot trust you with one!?!"

Today I think that He wanted me to learn this truth again. Today is the end of Ramadan. That is the period of fasting that Muslims do, and it is very important to observe if they want to go to paradise. At the end of Ramadan, all Muslims go to the mosque and pray, then go home and feast, breaking their fast. Before I went visiting today I had to walk through a large Muslim community to see my mechanic. As I was going to his house I passed by one of the mosques. The scene was amazing. There were about 3,000 - 4,000 people outside. The mosque could not hold them all. There they were, mostly dressed in white, facing east, men in one group, head-covered women in another. They were bowing, heads pressing against the ground, and reciting the prayers as the Imam prayed into the microphone "Allah Ahk-bar..." I just stood there and watched for about 15 minutes. As I walked away before they dismissed I started to think how they needed to be reached. Oh, how great it would be to start a church in Aboabo (a large Muslim community).

After checking the mechanic (who was not home), I started visitation. From that point everything started to go wrong. My first few people were not at home or at work. I could not get cars because the taxi and tro-tro (mini-bus) drivers are Muslim and were not working. Let's just say that by the time I got to Anloga, I was not very Spirit-filled.

I finally made it to Inusah's house (this is a Muslim man that I have been working with for 7 months to lead to Christ), and when I got inside I found two Jehovah's Witnesses there. I decided to stay to make sure these men did not impart any false teaching to my friend. This is a good time to say that I was visiting by myself. My partner has started university classes and cannot go with me, so I just visit men on Tuesday. Well, here I am with two JW's and one man that I love, that I hope to see saved. They both speak Twi and English perfectly. I felt like a guy that comes to a gun fight with a knife and a bum leg. Inusah asked me to join in and asked what I thought about what they were saying. Basically I explained to Inusah that just like Islam and Christianity are different and that they both do not lead to Heaven, so also Jehovah's Witness teachings and Christianity are different (keep in mind that this guy does not know much about the Bible, to him a Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, or Mormon are all the same). I told him that if he decided to follow their teaching, that it was a totally different faith. They were not going to Heaven.

To make a really long four hours of Bible discussion and debate short... it finally ended. I left, Inusah followed me out, and the JW's stayed. Inusah walked with me, and we chatted as we went. I told him that I loved him and just wanted him to know the truth. I told him that I would be praying for him. We said our goodbyes and then I took a taxi home.

As I was going home, this thought from the Word of God kept running through my mind... Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Then it hit me... here I was asking God for this great thing, but I had been careless in the things that He had already given me to do. He has given me one man, one of these Muslim souls. And when his time of need came, I needed to be Spirit-filled, full of grace so that I could know how to answer these men. I was not.

You never get today back when it is done, and you might not have tomorrow. You know, when you are young, you think life is made up of the big things, but the truth is that life is like lace. It is the small threads that make up the pattern and really make the thing beautiful. Today I am asking God to help me to do the small and do them well.

***(This reminds me of a story that I read in the Book of Virtues, but it is really long. Maybe I can type it out someday and put it in here, but for now I hope a word is enough for the wise. Let's just pray that this is one lesson learned quickly).***

Trust

That seems to be the word that God is trying to teach me lately. In this new church that seems to be my biggest problem. I want to do it! I keeping struggling with this thought, "Well, things are not moving, you are not winning, because...!" Then follows the list, all the things that I have not done that week, all the sins that I have commited, all the ways that I have failed. FEAR moves in...

So there I am, with God people before me, trying to lead music, waiting for people to come, and I cannot really focus, give my all, because I am wondering, 'Where is everyone, so-and-so is not here?' Then I start to worry, faith goes out the window, and I am defeated by Fear!

But God hit me with something Sunday. 'Isaiah 43:1...Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine'. I was so full of fear, I would not trust! God seemed to say, 'How about you just trust Me, and stop trying to do my job!' To quote "Facing the Giants", "Do your very best and leave the rest up to God. If we win, we praise Him. If we lose, we praise Him!"

So, I finally let go. All I am responsible with is doing my best. I did what I could, the best I could. You know, church was wonderful. God finally had freedom to do what He wanted.

I thought of this verse this morning: Luke 17:10 "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do". God does not bless because we have all our ducks in a row. In truth, most of the time I try to obey because I figure than I can twist God's arm into blessing me. It's like I think 'Hah, I have done it this week, God! I crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's. So you've got to bless me!' But you know, He is showing me that that is not why He works. It's not about us. Sure our sin can hinder what blessings we see, I know, but God is bigger than that. Even if I did everthing right, all the time, I still am unprofitable! God is doing what He is doing because He loves all men and wants them saved. He cares for them much more than I do. He is in control, He has a plan, and He will do what He wants. I am just blessed that I get to be a part!

So what did I learn this week? Do all that I can... and trust God with all of it!

Is it Broken?

When a Westerner comes to Africa and stays long enough for the initial excitement to wear off, he gets his first taste of culture shock. He sees the system, the people interacting, the daily motion of all the parts of the cultural clock, but it seems to him as if something is broken! He sees all the problems, the poverty, the inefficiency of the whole, and his western mind starts working on solutions. He thinks like I did: You know if they just had a bus schedule then ..., if the police would just arrest instead of taking bribes then... if, if, if!!! The Westerner gives all the answers that work within his world view. He thinks that if he was to be in charge for about six months, he would fix the whole thing. And, if God does not help him, that is what he seeks out to do in his circle of influence.

But the question is, is it broken?

To answer that question, I have learned that I had to go deeper. Truth is only found when you look below the surface. A friend of mine told me a Nigerian fable: A man is walking down the road, and as he passes a crowd of people they all stop him and complain that the load that he is carrying on his head is quite crooked. They keep saying that if he is not careful the load will fall off. The man just replies with a smile and says, "You all say that my load is crooked, and that is true, but while looking at my load, you never thought to look at my legs!" And as he walks away, they all see that he has one leg badly damaged by polio which causes him to lean greatly to one side. The point of the story is this: many can see a leaning load, but only those that look well can see why!

To see if the system is broken, we have to know the reason that it was built. I have found that nothing explains the heart of a culture more than its main religion. This will determine the focus of the whole; the goal that it was made to reach. In every people group, the people in that group are trying to get to their 'heaven' and trying to follow the rules that gain its enterance. Unless you know this, you will never really understand those people.

In the West we have had one dominant religion for over 2,000 years. For about 1,400 of those years, all thought, all religion was controlled by one group - the Catholic church. The rules of the Catholic church were the key. If an individual kept these rules, they gained eternal life, or at least the chance of Heaven after Purgatory. This system of belief became very deeply ingrained in us in the West. It became a core belief that what one does with a set truth (or faith) will determine one's fate.

But in Africa, this has not been the case. In Africa, from time unknown, the religion has been one without written rules. African traditional relgions have never had holy writings, but not having holy books does not mean there are no rules. It is a religion of very few but very important rules. Not to oversimplify a continent of peoples with thousands of languages and many cultures, but all traditional religions have at their heart this one truth. In Africa we are Animists. This means that we worship our ancestors. So you are thinking, ok, great, so what. Well, here is the point of it all. The key for eternity is not a written rule, creed, or faith, it is PEOPLE! People are the key to eternal life. Traditional African religious beliefs state that the only way your soul remains in this earth, in the present spirit world, is that it is venerated (worshipped) by its descendents. So what does this mean in plain English? Relationship is key. If you are my son, and you do not like me - to the point that when I die you do not worship my spirit - then my spirit ceases to exist. In Western terminology, that is tantamount to going to hell. To secure eternal hope, I must secure earthly realtionships.

This is the difference: the West has been formed around the belief that a faith or a set of rules is most important, while the African world has been set up around the belief that relationship is most important. What seems so broken to you, is in fact working perfectly for the African! You cannot, would not, risk relationships over such small things as traffic rules, city laws, and church doctrines. These are minor in the African mindset, relationship is king!

So, for those Westerners that live in this misunderstood system, it helps to know why the whole thing works the way it does. Once the missionary understands the system, he can move on to fix the real problems, not waste time on the surface. If you want to help Africa, you must reach its people, for people are the key!

The Moped Crash!

First a word of explanation. I really did not blog all these on the same day. But my old blog was having serious problems, so I had to save the text and restart.

Lessons... I guess this whole thing is just about learning them. You know some times I feel so slow to learn, and at other times I feel like I have learned so much. The truth is I feel really lucky. I feel like God has just dumped a million things into us in the last five years. Some where really hard, some not so, but all important, and all eye opening. I think that the hardest lessons learned seem to be the ones about ourselves, but you know the truth is that they can be the most rewarding.

So on to my new lesson. I wish I could learn this one faster, but one thing I have learned about God is that He never goes to the next lesson until you finish the current one. Last week, I bought a new moped. I went to the capital to buy it. It is a Yamaha two seater. I went to Accra on Tuesday and got back late at night. To tell the truth I was like a kid with a new Christmas present, you know, opening it before I even had all the wrapping paper off it. The next morning I was up bright and early. And you guessed it, all I could think about was... riding the moped. Don't forget that I have never driver a moped before. So I get ready and decide to take the bike out first thing, the whole time the Holy Spirit's saying, "how about you wait, read your Bible, pray, and get your list of activities ready, than take a test drive". Well, being the obedient Christian that I am, I of course jumped on the bike and went for a test drive. So off I go, I took a few turns in the compound, and took the bike over to the University Campus to drive it on the back roads. So after about 30 minutes of good riding, my head was suffiently big enough to think that I could try it out on main campus. So off I went. I drove the bike through the campus and was drive at a good clip, when I came to my frst round about (British interection). I went to make a right turn, and found out that a three foot hole was in the middle of the road. So I did the normal thing, I over reacted, swirved, and quickly found out that my brake line had a hole in it, and I had no brake fluid, so I could not stop. Now if I lived in Michigan that has nice shoulders off the road there would have been no problem, but here we have these nice three foot deep rain gutters. So I hit the gutter, go flying in the air, and land on the grass. I did not get hurt, but the funniest part of all is that the classes had just let out, and there was a hundred or so students walking by!!!! I an just imagine the stories in the dorms about the flying white guy and his smashed bike!

Well, I had a good amount of time to think while I was waiting for the mechanic to come. Yah, I bent up my shockes and front end. It was a good time for a lesson sitting there looking at my new moped.

Here is the lesson: Never do something in enthusiam that should be put off because of duty!

(You know we always want to do the new thing before the old, but most times the old gets us ready for the new, always do your duty!)

The Beginning of it all...

How does a thing really begin? Is it the moment that the light-blub lights up and you understand, or is it a million things before that that add together and bring you to that point?

Well, I remember this light blub and a few of the things that caused it. I had been in Ghana for about nine months. I wanted to help people see their need of Christ, and I had been trying to accomplish this. Our group went out soul-winning in our community, and we split up in our groups. My wife joined me and Alex (one of the boys from our first church), and we went out door-to-door. After a while, we came to a door, and met a women named Doris. We asked if we could take some time and talk about the gospel. She ushered us right in and seemed to eat up my words. I took the next hour and a half in English and Twi and laid the simple foundation of the gospel, answering questions, and praying. At the end we asked her if she would like to pray and receive Christ as her Saviour. She said that she would. We prayed with her and gave her a few verses of encouragement. I left thinking, "Finally, I have spoken to someone and they really understood!"

The next week, we followed her up, but to my surprise when we asked her what she had done the previous week, she said, " I prayed with you." We asked her what can save her and take her to Heaven, to which she told us, "Going to church, being baptized, and asking for forgiveness!" Let's just say that I was a little crest-fallen. We explained salvation again, and she even offered to pray again, but there was no real understanding.

It was one of those times you either quit, make excuses, or make a resolution. Well, I told God I had to know what I was missing. I did not want to live a lie.

So I made a resolution... so began the journey.

Today I read this...

Ánd though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing...
Just reminded me that even if I think that I understand everything here, if I do not really love them, I AM NOTHING!

Beneath the Surface

I think that I have always been a person seeking for the things under the surface. My mom tells me that since I was a kid I have always been taking things apart to see how they work. I am not sure what compels me to this continual obession of asking the question 'why?', but I know that I will always do it.

When I first came to Ghana and all the newness began to wear off, the one thing that seemed to help with the shock was finding the familiar. Things that did not seem so weird - the same old Snickers candy bar, the Pringles, the little things. They let you think that you were really not in a foreign place, with foreign people, where you did not understand all the 'whats' let alone the 'whys'. At those times you want to feel that there is a piece of home in that strange place. Now finding the familiar is all fine in moderation, but the young missionary, if not careful (especially if he has my temperament), quickly moves to the excess. You not only look for the similar, you reject the unsimilar... you so need the old world and all its 'whys' that you do not really see the new world that you live in.

Well, fifty to a hundred years ago, when we were all still so ethnic on our surface, a person was forced to deal with these differences or return home. But today, with a growing world fashion, internet, and MTV on every continent, it is so easy to forget that that young man in the nice suit and expensive Western shoes really does think differently and view the world, your world, in a strange way. This is why I think we do not let ourselves ask 'Áre these people really the same, do they really think like me in their hearts?' We do not ask questions; we just move ahead!

But, I think that if we intend to really reach them, we are going to have to go beneath the surface!

The Importance of World View

You know, until I moved out of America, I never much thought about that term 'world view'. I did not have to. Everything around me spoke to the fact that mine was the right and only 'world view'. The people that I cared about, the country I was from, the faith that I have, all supported, all upheld, all confirmed that I see the world as it is. There was no such thing as another view of the world. There is only one world, and with a world that fit these views so well, how could anyone ever see it differently... And then I became a missionary!