Sifting

Luke 22:31-32 “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren”.

What must this have been like for Jesus Christ? Here is one of his closest disciples, someone that he has spent three years with, and now near the time he is going to suffer and die, he sees that Peter will be shifted. Not only that he knows that Peter will deny him.

Someone that he has invested in is about to go through great trials! Even to the point that he wants to deny Christ! Satan loves to shift people. But here Christ moved beyond His human feelings, and acts accord to His divine character. He prays instead of pouts.

Christ knew that Satan desired to have Peter, but praise be to God, what once is purchased by the blood of Christ is His forever! Though he cannot have him, he still wants to shack him. But even in this time of sad prophesy Christ prays for the good. Though Satan would sift, Christ prayed for good to come from it.

See, the wheat must be sifted if the chaff is to be removed, and then all that is left is the grain. Only God can take a trail and turn it into a triumph. The author of faith speaks faith to Peter, “But, I am praying for you, that your faith will not fail, and after you are converted (changed, recovered, turned back), you will strengthen the brother.” He speaks faith and hope. Not only will he make it, but after he will be able to use this time of trouble to teach and help others.

Two things make a difference in the time of shifting. First, faith, that Christ knows and is pray for us and others. Second, prayer, seeking to be an intercessor for others that are being shifted.

I was much in despair this last night and this morning. But God brought this story to mind. Last night I had a small taste of what Christ must have felt like. Knowing that sifting is coming and happening to ones that are loved is not easy. The heart cries out, and Satan whispers, “They are mine, I will shift them and leave nothing but chaff.” At times the soul sinks in emotions and fear! But God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a strong mind.

Maybe the struggle is not just for the shifted, but for the Christian learning to trust and pray as he watches. These last weeks I have been reading about spiritual warfare, and it was impressed on me that the path of greatest blessing and growth is the hard path up, not the easy path down. So I prayed one of those prays, that is scary to think about after. I told the Lord that if the way needed to be made harder so that we might have more faith, then His will be done. I think it has been heard and answered.

Thursday night right before service, a young boy of about six years was playing around the Bible study tent. He is the younger brother of one of our younger converts. Christiana has been converted, baptized and attends many services. I ask the boy were his sister was, to which he said, “Christiana has started going to a new church!” This was a shock. Recently her mother has been seeking for ways to keep her young girls at home. She seems more concerned about having someone at the house to cook the food and tend the other children then she if with the eldest girls having a chance to learn about God. For this reason she has told us that Christiana younger sister cannot attend services and must stay with her so that she can help her on Sundays. This started about a month ago. But, I do not think that story was given to us completely. Since that time Christian has not attended services either. The girl was not be allowed to attend, under the pretense that the distance is to far. So she has done the only thing her young Christian mind could think of, she has decided to attend a ‘church’ just a few houses away.

To say just a little, I was crest fallen Thursday. I know so things about the group she has joined. Their times of worship are filled with traditional invoking, pagan practices, and false teaching. A member of the place once told me that the pastor had preached that Jesus had to get baptized because he needed his sins washed away! So to think that not only had she started attended there, but was to join them of her own free will was hard to take!

But the sifting did not stop there. We have received other news. Mary a faithful growing convert is moving for some time. Her father lives in the north, and has called the family to come to stay with him. The mother and all the sisters will be going. The father makes them attend Catholic while in the north. Mary says that, Lord willing, she and a brother will be able to attend in a month and a half, so that she can continue work. But, the thing that grieves us is that her unsaved younger sister that has been attending the service will not be returning!

Also Thursday morning a mother of three boys that allows the boys to attend our services told me that she is tired of raising her children and will be sending them to her family in another region. They have not converted yet, and are not easy to live with being young teenage boys and full of energy. But, our hopes were that they where close to being converted. She says that if something does not change within the month all five children will be shipped off. The youngest is just two years old. (Her family is traditional in belief).

I have to admit; Thursday though the service went well, was not easy. I sat at home wondering. Six people going. Six! The work when done right here is slow. Many come, some stay, few convert and grow! God is working, but the effect takes time. To think that they might all be going was hard.

But these things have helped me. 1. It was a reminded that he must climb or die. No work, person or group can stand still on the mountains. They either climb or die. 2. Pray was Christ answer to sifting. No matter the feelings that seem to flood the mind, they are not the answer. These people need prayer. I have be reminded again and again lately that this work must go forward on it knees. Pray is the way we must fight. Not just those here, but those that are also at home. They must pray!

“God I throw my hope, dreams, and visions on you today! All that you build will stand. No matter how long it my take, may I trust you that your hand is moving to fulfill your own plan. Help me to allow the tests to make me dependant on you. Use hardship to build my dependence on your power and your power only. Help us to learn that we in time might strengthen the brother. Amen.”

Is There a McDonald's In Ghana??

Since arriving in Ghana six years ago, I have come to learn a lot of things about West African culture. One of the first things that will strike the student that is trying to understand West Africans is the way in which they interpret interpersonal relationships.

Let me try to explain: in western society as a whole one of the focuses of causal relationships is gaining information. This quest for relationship entails the trustworthy sharing and receiving of needed information. If a person has a casual relationship with someone, and finds that the information provide by that person is false, then most likely that relationship will be terminated.

For example- Jim is a contractor that buys building supplies for projects. He normally purchases these items at a local hardware store, but after meeting a salesmen named Sid, Jim discoveries that if he asks Sid if the store stocks a item that he needs, Sid will tells them that they have it, but once Jim looks around, he discovers that the item that he needs is out of stock, or not available at the store. Because Jim now sees Sid as untrustworthy he will brake the relationship and start buying his supply at the new Home Depot in the next city, where he believes they will give him proper information.

This scenario is not understood by may West Africans. Here the focus is not on the accuracy of information being relayed, but that it is being relayed. Relationships are parmount. If a person is asked for help or basic information, even if the person asked does not know the answer, an answer will be given. The African will seek to determine from body language, needs, language usage, what the person asking wants to hear, and therefore many times will give the response that they think that the person asking wants to hear. Here the focus of the culture can be seen. In the West Africa of the past, information was limited and protected, and relationships where thought to be of greater importance. In our culture here, it is thought more damaging to appear unhelpful or unkind, then it is to relate correct facts.

For example- Kofi is a foreigner that is new to Kumasi, a large city of about 2.5 million people. Kofi is a young business man that dresses according to his profession, and has come to the central market looking to buy a rare item, that he needs for his business. Because Kofi is new to the city and does not know where to find this item, he decides to ask a young man if he knows of any stores in which this item can be found. The young man quickly assures him that he knows of some places. After about two hours and ten different stores, Kofi comes to understand that the young man was just trying to be helpful, not only does he not know of any stores that sell the item, the young man does not even now what the item is. Kofi is angry at the young man for wasting his time, and as he leaves the young man is confused way the man is angry at him for being helpful. The Africa understands that even if proper information was not given he was trying to be friendly and helpful, and of course that is the most important thing.

These two examples might seem hoarse to a reader, but in truth they are an imperfect, but fair example of each cultural ideal. Now a person might wonder what this has to do with McDonald's. Well, my friend Andrew Aaron and I tried to put this theory to the test the other day. We had been traveling to the capital when the truck that we where riding in got its third flat tire of the morning, and we where stranded in the jungle for two hours. My friend had his video camera, so we decided to see if our theory was true.

Here is our theory: If a broni (foreigner) asks a local man about the location of a place that he has never heard of, he will still give him an answer, just because he does not want to offend the boni.

So with our camera in hand we set out to answer our theory. Would a African tell us there is a McDonald's in Ghana, even though they do not know what it is?

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=1138220825106

From this video a person can see that most often Africans will tell the person asking questions what they think the person watns to hear. This is very important for those people trying to give the gospel to starngers. Unless an African knows a preaching of the gospel well enough or they are confronted with a clear enough Gospel presetation that attacks their foundation thoughts about life, they will got assent to all question and follow social harmony rules. This video give some evidence to this fact, and I hope it is helpful.