Main Thing Things...
At our training they emphasized the importance of doing "Main Thing Things". As it is in America, we can get so busy here doing "other" things that we forget to do main thing things. Our priority is sharing the Gospel message and discipling those who come to faith in Christ. To do that, we must be out with the people we are ministering to, not behind a security fence, closed gate or constantly locked in our office preparing for our next "study".
Part of our training in the village was to rewrite our testimonies so that they would speak to the hearts of Africans. This was particularly challenging and beneficial. On the assigned day we went out to share our testimonies. As we were walking three young men stopped us walking down the dirt road toward a village. As best we could understand from our translator, the conversation went like this:
Men: Where are you going? We know, you are going to ???'s garden to share something with them.
Kenneth: No, we are not going to their garden, but we are out looking to share with people.
Men: Well, were people! Come share with us!
They led us down a short path, over a fence to their plot of land where they were growing tomatoes. (This reminded me of my gardening days at Northside Baptist!) We sat down on the ground by some water and began to share with them. The men were brothers and the youngest seemed to be the most interested and was the most vocal. So we started off sharing with them a story we had studied the previous morning in our small group time about David and Goliath. We mentioned how although David was the youngest brother God choose to use him. It was easy to transition to sharing my testimony as I am the youngest of three brothers and also named David!
After I shared my testimony I began to ask them if they had ever made a decision to commit their lives to Christ. They responded by saying they had been to church before. We discussed what being a Christian really meant, the sacrifice Christ made for us, and the sacrifices we may be called on to make for Him! The prosperity gospel (meaning that all God wants is to bless you) is so prevalent and desired here that we had to make sure they knew the full Gospel message. A Gospel that calls on us to "take up our cross daily" and to die to ourselves. We also talked about how it is not just a promise of heaven, but a relationship now. As Jesus says in John 10:10; "The thief (satan) comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly." In total we spent over 2 hours interacting with them about the Gospel. In the end, two of the brothers committed their lives to Christ. We prayed with them as they confessed to God their desire to live for Him!
So, who is the girl in the photo? As we were sharing, four more people walked up and sat down to listen. One of which was this 14 year old girl who Heather heard praying along with the guys. After the prayer Heather began to talk to her and found out that she too had decided to commit her life to Christ. Heather took the lead and made sure she understood the commitment she was making. We are so thankful for the gift God gave us, allowing our paths to cross so we could help them come into relationship with such a loving Savior. We asked them if we could take their photo so we could put it up in our house and pray for them for the next year. We were excited to find out that there is a nearby Baptist Church and pastor that can follow up with them and help them grow in their faith.
The Picture I missed:
While I am grateful for the blessing we had at leading these people to a relationship with God, I missed a picture that has been burned into my mind and heart. The older brother walked away from us through the almost ready for harvest corn, with his head down. He had rejected the Gospel and was walking away. These are the bittersweet days as a missionary. Yet, it draws my focus back to the truth of the Gospel. Some will accept and others will reject. I am no more responsible for someone's decision to reject Christ than I am their decision to follow him. This truth helps us in remembering it is Christ who saves and not our eloquent words or compelling arguments. Yet somehow it doesn't seem to lessen the pain at seeing someone reject Christ.
As I prayed through this I have begun to pray that he will do as David did in the story of his confrontation with Goliath; that this younger brother will lead the way for his older brother. My prayer is that this younger brother will grow in his faith and will eventually have the privilege of leading his older brother to Christ. My prayer is that all three of these brothers will eventually be doing "main thing things."
-dp
Part of our training in the village was to rewrite our testimonies so that they would speak to the hearts of Africans. This was particularly challenging and beneficial. On the assigned day we went out to share our testimonies. As we were walking three young men stopped us walking down the dirt road toward a village. As best we could understand from our translator, the conversation went like this:
Men: Where are you going? We know, you are going to ???'s garden to share something with them.
Kenneth: No, we are not going to their garden, but we are out looking to share with people.
Men: Well, were people! Come share with us!
They led us down a short path, over a fence to their plot of land where they were growing tomatoes. (This reminded me of my gardening days at Northside Baptist!) We sat down on the ground by some water and began to share with them. The men were brothers and the youngest seemed to be the most interested and was the most vocal. So we started off sharing with them a story we had studied the previous morning in our small group time about David and Goliath. We mentioned how although David was the youngest brother God choose to use him. It was easy to transition to sharing my testimony as I am the youngest of three brothers and also named David!
After I shared my testimony I began to ask them if they had ever made a decision to commit their lives to Christ. They responded by saying they had been to church before. We discussed what being a Christian really meant, the sacrifice Christ made for us, and the sacrifices we may be called on to make for Him! The prosperity gospel (meaning that all God wants is to bless you) is so prevalent and desired here that we had to make sure they knew the full Gospel message. A Gospel that calls on us to "take up our cross daily" and to die to ourselves. We also talked about how it is not just a promise of heaven, but a relationship now. As Jesus says in John 10:10; "The thief (satan) comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly." In total we spent over 2 hours interacting with them about the Gospel. In the end, two of the brothers committed their lives to Christ. We prayed with them as they confessed to God their desire to live for Him!
(You might be wondering why they are not smiling. Typically in this culture they don't smile when they are making big decisions, like at their wedding or following Christ as they want to show that they are serious about the commitment they are making)
So, who is the girl in the photo? As we were sharing, four more people walked up and sat down to listen. One of which was this 14 year old girl who Heather heard praying along with the guys. After the prayer Heather began to talk to her and found out that she too had decided to commit her life to Christ. Heather took the lead and made sure she understood the commitment she was making. We are so thankful for the gift God gave us, allowing our paths to cross so we could help them come into relationship with such a loving Savior. We asked them if we could take their photo so we could put it up in our house and pray for them for the next year. We were excited to find out that there is a nearby Baptist Church and pastor that can follow up with them and help them grow in their faith.
The Picture I missed:
While I am grateful for the blessing we had at leading these people to a relationship with God, I missed a picture that has been burned into my mind and heart. The older brother walked away from us through the almost ready for harvest corn, with his head down. He had rejected the Gospel and was walking away. These are the bittersweet days as a missionary. Yet, it draws my focus back to the truth of the Gospel. Some will accept and others will reject. I am no more responsible for someone's decision to reject Christ than I am their decision to follow him. This truth helps us in remembering it is Christ who saves and not our eloquent words or compelling arguments. Yet somehow it doesn't seem to lessen the pain at seeing someone reject Christ.
As I prayed through this I have begun to pray that he will do as David did in the story of his confrontation with Goliath; that this younger brother will lead the way for his older brother. My prayer is that this younger brother will grow in his faith and will eventually have the privilege of leading his older brother to Christ. My prayer is that all three of these brothers will eventually be doing "main thing things."
-dp
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