Pushing Back Darkness

That would have been my response to Jonathan if I were his armor bearer.

“Jonathan said to his young armor bearer “come, lets go over to the post of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”
1 Samuel 14:6

I’m having a hard time even putting into words the absurdity of this statement. “Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf.” Perhaps? Perhaps? This is so crazy to me probably because of my journey with the Lord and the American Christianity that we often subscribe to. When we even get the slightest inkling that we are supposed to do one thing or another, what do we do? I know what I do. Think, ask friends, read every Christian book on the shelves, etc. (None of these are actually bad things). This takes so much time that after all is said and done, some months later, the opportunity or “prompting” is well gone and I get to chalk another one up to the fact that “it probably wasn’t what God wanted me to do.” Usually it’s something real complicated that takes a lot of effort, perhaps like stop and give a guy a dollar so he can eat, or tell someone to have a good day and ask them their name, you know those things that take about 30 seconds but “I’m way to busy to do.”

Contrast that with Jonathan, who is contemplating attacking the Philistines, slightly harder than handing out a dollar and a smile. And the best part of it, it doesn’t even seem to be God’s idea. Now Israel was God’s promised people, and Jonathan knew that. But nowhere in the passage does it say that God was “prompting” him, telling him what to do, opening doors – closing others, which is usually what we wait on. The word that he uses, perhaps, is such an ambiguous word especially when you’re talking about going into battle. It’s an in the middle, could go either way type of word.

Lets bring this down to a situation we could possibly relate a little better to. You’re having coffee with one of your best friends on your lunch break and he looks at you and says “perhaps we should go to Afghanistan in the middle of a terrorist cell and tell them God loves them.” My first response, after a laugh of course, would be what prompted you to do this? Do you feel like God is calling you to this mission? And if he were like Jonathan, maybe his response would be, “he didn’t really tell me to, but I think that its something God would maybe want us to do.” And if you’re like the armor bearer in the story you say “sure, whatever you say.” Right?

Not me. Why? Cause it’s crazy! But…I wonder if just maybe that’s the beauty of God’s story and I miss the point daily. God’s story is one where normal people do crazy things because there’s an all-powerful Creator of the Universe who loves us so much and is so crazy that it evokes crazy reactions. Rich people sell everything to follow Jesus, people quit their jobs without a two-week notice. Why? Because you heard the Son of God wants to know you and wants you to know him. That is crazy. Moving forward I hope and pray that I may be more like Jonathan, willing to show crazy love or serve the least of the least without hesitation hoping that “Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf.”

I met a few of my favorite people for breakfast on Saturday. We all have some things in common, our love for Jesus, our love for the people of Sierra Leone and our JOY in serving Him at all cost.

God has given each of us specific areas of interest for the people of this country. He has given us different gifts, different spheres of influence, different backgrounds, different church homes but one common love.

As we shared our hopes, dreams and desires for people we love so deeply I felt many different emotions. Places where discouragement had settled in began to diminish and hope took root in its place. Areas of my heart where I had become cynical became filled with grace. By the end of our time together I felt as if this little group of people with a BIG love, could change an entire nation. After all, we have the spirit of the One who rose and conquered the grave living inside of us.

All things are possible for those who believe! And we believe. We believe that Jesus is Love. We believe that Jesus loves children. We believe that Jesus desires for women to have true love and not have to prostitute themselves to feed their family. We believe that the Lord desires people who are putting their hope in Allah, a false God, to put their hope in Him, the one true Living God who loves them. We believe that children in the poorest nation of the world deserve the same education our children in America receive. We believe that the hungry, poor in spirit, needy, oppressed, broke-hearted people of Sierra Leone are deeply loved by their Maker. We believe that the Lord of all the earth has placed in us a passion and desire to make Sierra Leone, Africa a little more like heaven! We believe that though we are few in number, by the grace of God, we will make a difference by His Spirit at work within us that will last for generations! We believe that all things are possible with God!

As each of us shared stories about children, pastors, women, people in Sierra Leone that we love you could almost feel the hope and joy rising in each of us. Our love for these people has increased our love for God. As we have each followed Him to this place we have found that we could never turn back. We are in this for life. How could we not love, how could we not serve. Even in the midst of the opposition, the difficulties, the overwhelming needs, the emotional pain, the joy of our Lord inside of us, surrounding us, supercedes all of the obstacles and difficulties! It is His joy that is our strength. It is His irresistible Love that compels us. We couldn’t stop loving and serving these people if we tried. We know that it would be just as if we stopped loving and serving the Jesus we love.

As we gathered in front of the restaurant saying goodbye and still excitedly sharing all that God was doing in our hearts, I just became even more joyful. In fact, His joy threatened to overtake me! As I walked back to my car I had an overwhelming sense that I had just left the Presence of the Lord Himself. I had this growing feeling that these people alone would make a significant difference for the Kingdom of God that would change generations all over the world. I felt humbled that God had connected me to their lives. I felt grateful that I could call them friends. I felt that together we could take on the world and that we would! I left that gathering feeling a little less strange, a little less of a minority in my Christian community. I left filling a new level of hope and excitement for the people of Sierra Leone, for the people of America, for the world. I left knowing that just one life fully devoted to Him and His causes could change everything. How much more could He do THROUGH the lives of the 7 of us. How much more could He do through those within the body of Christ who are willing to go where He went and do what He did when He was on the earth.

Yes, I have hope. I have joy. I have courage. I have confidence. He is moving through the lives of His people. His love is our motivation. His joy is our strength. We are His hands and feet and we will not give up. How could we? There is no greater pleasure than to serve Him in this way. It is our greatest desire to live deeper still. Please join us!!!

The Lord has been doing something in me. I hope and pray He is doing the same thing in those of you reading this. He is deepening my love for Him…I mean REALLY deepening. And with this process comes a deeper love for the poor, needy, broken, hopeless, orphaned and widowed.

My heart is lining up with His. Scriptures that I have read a hundred times are taking on new life and meaning.

I am no longer satisfied by the same earthly pleasures that used to bring happiness. I cannot ignore the pain in others’ lives that I used to be able to. I cannot pretend that children who are hungry and hurting half way across the world are not my responsibility as a follower of Christ.

I told one of my African sons, the last time I was in Sierra Leone that I felt as if the Lord were changing everything in me, in our family, both American and African.

I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it is the mystery of His will. He is making all things new. He is tearing down false belief systems to rebuild new ones on the Truth of His word. I feel as if He is stripping me, us as a body, of pride, false motives, our own strength, control, and every other sin that so easily entangles us so we can serve Him by serving others better.

HIS LOVE IS THE ANSWER!

There are children crying themselves to sleep tonight because they are haunted my memories of a 12 year long war that robbed them of their parents and families. There are women who were raped and ended up having children by rebel soldiers and now no man wants them so they are forced to prostitute themselves to feed their children. There are tribes of people still praying to Allah and believing if they are just good enough God will accept them. There are 12 year old girls who are being sold by their parents to men twice their age as a second wife simply to bare children. There are communities of people living without either their hands. feet, arms or legs as a daily reminder of the brutality they experienced in a senseless war.  They can’t get jobs because no one wants to hire them. There are communities of people with polio, a preventative disease, begging on the streets to survive. There are people who are in remote villages dying for lack of medical care for common, treatable illnesses.  There are children who die simply for lack of clean drinking water.  I could go on and on but you get the point.

These are just a few of the injustices that are taking place in Sierra Leone, Africa, the poorest, most undeveloped nation in the world. A country where the average life expectancy is the lowest in all the earth at age 40.

This and more is going on all over the planet. In America, we are a minority. The extravagant way we live is not the way most of the world is living. We are living in excess while most of the earth is living in DESPERATE need!

I am crying out for the body of Christ living in excess to share what they have with those who are desperately poor.

To quote Amy Kernal, “As for me, the Sierra Leoneons are my people.” Maybe God wants them to be your people. Maybe He will lead you to others to pour your time, money, resources and love into. But if you don’t have a place to share your excess with, join me as we pour into these precious people together.

There is a group of 80 children orphaned by a civil war who live as one family in the Wellington Orphanage in Sierra Leone, Africa. They are madly in love with Jesus. They believe the Lord is raising them up to share the love of Christ with their people and to rebuild their nation. I believe anything I pour into their lives is pouring into the entire country. Please join me.

I was telling my husband on Sunday that my heart aches to do more. That I long to be with them, to daily encourage them and share God’s love with them. To walk among their people, to encourage their weak and give medical care to their sick, to tell the ones who have never put their hope in Christ how much He loves them. It is my sacrifice to live here in America and not live there with them. I want to be honest, when I am there, I feel as if I am living, moving and breathing in His Spirit.  I feel as if my heart could explode with His love and compassion.  I could not love those children more if I carried them in my womb.  I could not love those people more if they were my family by blood.  So returning over and over again for me is irresistible.  When I come back to America I am faced with the difficulties in staying connected to my Jesus who I love so much.  There are so many distractions, so many good but tempting things that beckon for my attention and focus.  I am fully aware of the spiritual poverty that plagues our nation, and even our churches and Christians.  It is my desire to be there and my sacrifice to be here. 

I am finally getting it. After walking with Him for 13 years, I finally understand where the lasting, deep joy is found. It is found in serving the least of the least, it is then that I am serving Him. It is caring for the orphans and widows. It is then that I am caring for Him. It is going out into all the earth and preaching the gospel it is then that I am fulfilling the great commission that we are all called to as Christians.

Let me say this with humility and yet boldness. Not some of us are called to these things. Not some of us are called to go into the poorest areas with the hope and love of Christ, sharing with those in need. Not some of us are called to preach the gospel to the poor in spirit…to the nations. Not some of us are called to sell what we have and give to the poor. Not some of us are called to serve with sacrifice until it hurts. We are ALL called to these things as Christians. All of us. If every Christ follower put his faith into practice and obeyed the teachings of the One they follow…how many would be still be living in the impoverished (spiritual and physical) conditions that MOST of the world is living in? Think about that.

Please know that I have so far to go. I sit typing this in my air-conditioned house with my frig filled with food, some that will likely go bad before we can eat it. I buy reverse osmosis water because the free water that comes from the faucet tastes funny even though it is perfectly safe and my children won’t die from drinking it.

I am asking the Lord to strip me and my husband of more. I am asking Him for the strength to sacrifice more. I am asking for our entire family to be poured out as a drink offering like never before for the least of these!

I was playing a game with our boys last night.  We sat in a circle and made up a story.  I started and then as we went around the circle the boys got to add their part.  I began by saying we all took a trip to Africa together as a family.  Then our nine year old, Micah, added that we went to a village with kids who were hungry and gave them food.  Then Silas, our 7 year old, said we also gave the ones who were sick medicine.  Then I said we danced and played games with the kids.  Then Silas was too excited to wait for his next turn and said, “Oh, Oh, Mommy I know, then we told them about Jesus and helped them become Christians.”  My heart filled with joy.  This is what I want for my kids.  I want them to KNOW they are a minority and the rest of the world NEEDS what they have to offer! 

Will you join me in being The Church and the hands and feet of Christ to the people of Sierra Leone. If you do not want my people to be your people, ask Him to lead you to anyone in the earth who needs you. You were created for this! You will be on an adventure you will NOT regret! There will be pain, laughter, tears and JOY! You will know His heart in a whole new way. I promise you will never be the same. Never.

Our prayer for this blog is that the stories you read would not just inspire you but would stir you into action. For the sake of those who NEED your help, and for your sake too!

Please take the time to pray and ask the Lord to show you how you can join this adventure with us.

I love you all…deeply. So does Jesus!