Thank you for your prayers and support while our team was in
Africa. There is so much to tell that I
am not sure its possible in one note.
So, I thought I would start unpacking what happened by telling a few
quick little stories of what happened there.
When
we got there, the rice harvest was in full swing. It is so serious some people sleep in the
fields after working all day. Because of
all this harvesting, there were not many people in the town. So, we went to the fields to work them and
meet the people. Ever seen white people
working a field in the middle of Africa?
Neither had anyone there and it wasn’t long until there was a buzz about
us in the fields. We got to speak with
over 30 people in 3 hours of working the fields. The analogy Jesus uses in Luke 10:2 is better
understood when you see how countries harvest which is so different than how we
harvest with machinery. If the rice is
not harvested fast enough, the rice dries out or it is weighed down enough for
the field mice to get it. When they
harvest, they cut each individual stem by hand with a small but very sharp
paring knife. So, harvesting takes close
attention to each stem and has to be done at the right time. Working in the fields with the people helped
us better understand their culture and helped emphasize to the people in the
fields that we aren’t tourists, we are there for them.
The workers being out in the harvest also let us spend more
time with the church pastor there then we have ever been able to spend
before. We learned his story, his
passions, his plans for church planting in the region, the struggles that his
people face, and how we can help. When
we arrived he was a bit discouraged and by the end he was very encouraged,
loved, and ready to continue a push for the Gospel to be declared while being
persecuted. With every trip we take to
West Africa, the pastor and church members become stronger and bolder. We were able to have the church memorize four
stories, Jesus’s birth, Jesus’s baptism, assurance of salvation, and the
miraculous healing of a blind man.
Several people in the church will share them with friends and we saw
that even within the week we were there.
God is sovereign. I
knew this before, but God really strengthened my understanding on this
trip. God was sovereign to help us
successfully and easily get to the town we are going to. None of us had ever been to Africa, but we
found the way to be easy and uneventful.
God helped us understand what we were doing there and happily led us to
the places we needed to be. God
protected us and kept us healthy when we went outside the box on what we were
“supposed” to do and did what was needed to be able to talk with and be with
people. And finally, when all of our
plans fell through to get home, God gave me this verse: “Do not be afraid, but
go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack
you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” (Acts 18:9,
10 ESV). We were surrounded by Christians
who wanted the best for us and helped us change travel plans, figure out how to
get home, and one great man who took 5 hours of the toughest part of the trip
with us to help us. God is indeed
sovereign and we learned to live by that more than ever.
God is great! Thanks for your support and
prayers throughout this journey.
In Christ,
Erik
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