Set Apart

Set apart from the start
(once I gave myself to you)
I did not know
how far you’d go
to make me someone new!

But I am yours, much-loved,
learning like a daughter should
who wants to know
how best to grow
and act just like you would.

When my Nyarafolo translation partner Moïse and I were working on the book of Leviticus, we met many challenges. But the one that influenced me most was researching the word “holy” and differentiating it from “sacred” or “consecrated,”  “set apart.”  God is holy, even called by the name “the Holy One of Israel,” and he is not consecrated or set apart.

When applied to God, “holy” means absolutely perfect, morally and ethically completely good. There is no defect in him (this is the meaning of the word we used for his holiness in Nyarafolo: tiɛlɛfun (without defect). Holiness is his nature. This means that he can be relied on. He is always faithful, always does what he has promised to do. When we truly know him, experiencing his presence and activity in our lives, we humans respond to his majesty and otherness with awe and compelling fascination. However, it must not stop there! “The experience of God revealing himself as ethically holy calls for the human response to a holiness resembling his own (Lev 20:7).”[1]

Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. (Lev. 20:7 NIV)

To consecrate yourself, you must commit yourself to being set apart for lifelong service to Yahweh. The priests in Israel were set apart like this, and now we who belong to Yahweh through the work of Jesus Messiah are priests too!

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  (1 Pet. 2:1 NIV)

Being set apart, we are to do everything that we can to know him and to live as we should, developing a character different from people who do not belong to him.

Peter was a disciple of Jesus who experienced what it was to walk life daily with this Master. When we follow his story we can see that this was not always an easy road. When Jesus said to throw his nets back into the water where he knew there had been no fish before, Peter learned that the Lord could provide what seemed impossible. He had to risk walking on water to learn that he needed to keep his eyes fixed on Jesus and not on the storm around him. And he learned that his Lord would forgive him even when he had totally failed him by denying that he knew him, at the crisis point of Jesus’ ministry.

Because he truly knew Jesus, Peter wrote to his own disciples about what they must do to follow him. It would not be a matter of just declaring that they believed his claim to be Messiah and ask for forgiveness, but then keep on living according to their world’s standards. No! It would mean making their life purpose a whole new one: becoming like him.

That’s one of the reasons why it was so deeply meaningful to me to participate in translating the two letters in the New Testament that Peter wrote. He was like a coach telling the athletes that they absolutely must give this endeavor everything they have in order to be successful—they are not just sitting on the sidelines!

So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. (1 Pet. 1:14-15 NLT)

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. (2 Pet. 1:4-7 NIV)

What? We can participate in the divine nature? That is awesome! It is true that we cannot do this on our own, without the Spirit’s empowerment. He alone can develop that unity with God that literally changes our nature. Peter made it clear that it was because the Spirit had set them apart that they were on track to obey their Lord, right from the beginning of his letter. He said he was writing to:

[those] who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. (1 Pet. 1:2 NIV)

Nevertheless, even though the Spirit is doing essential work we are not to go on as if nothing is now required of us. With the peace and generous love that come to us from God, we are to do all we can to become morally pure, like him:

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; (1 Pet. 1:15 NIV)

This was not new to the Jews who knew the essentials of the covenant they had with Yahweh:

“Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. (Lev. 19:2 NIV)

But to those entering the new covenant, becoming a child of God through Jesus, this had to be startling. And I’m afraid many of us today find it so astonishing that it seems impossible. How can we be morally perfect, without any defect, like God himself?

It is a process that demands our cooperation. We are told to “make every effort” to work with him:

 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. ( 2 Pet. 1:5-7 NIV)

That list of qualities becomes meaningful to us when we know the Lord and his Word and understand how he lived them out. How do we get to know him and live like he did? James, who knew Jesus as a brother and became a fervent disciple, tells us this:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (Jas. 4:7 NIV)

When I was a child, back in the days when my parents were missionaries in the Congo, I remember the practice we had of memorizing verses that were on a little pack of cards in a box when we were just finishing breakfast. The one that moved me most, and that I clung to during my older years when I was longing to really know my Lord, was that first part of verse 7: Come near to God and he will come near to you. I can testify that what this says is true. By paying attention to what he left us in the Word, by opening my heart to him in prayer, by listening to mature disciples’ encouragement and teaching, I became closer and closer to him. He became truly the essential person in my life. With every effort I made to know him, he was coming closer to me, more real and present to my senses all the time.

When we get that close to him, we care what he thinks. We even want to do what he tells us to do. We trust him because we know he is good, faithful, completely reliable, so just as we would trust our earthly parent that we know wants the best for us, we learn to respect his direction. It is worth making every effort to participate in his transformation of our nature, and to keep on doing so!

[1] Willem VanGemeren, ed., New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 883.

If Only!

If only every word I speak, each tone of voice,
were only what I’ve heard from you!
If only every action, in each sacred moment,
were only that which pleases you!
If only every step I take would move me forward
with my eyes fixed just on you!
If only I could grow in grace and holiness
to be in every way like you!

If only! Yes, we may long to become perfect, to be like Jesus, but attaining that goal can seem truly unrealistic! I remember feeling that way when we would sing this hymn in my youth:

Oh! to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.[1]

What does it take to achieve that kind of goal?

Lately I’ve been studying the diets recommended to combat certain physical issues. I even made a chart that notes which foods I should eat, which foods I should avoid. That’s all a great start. But what if I just leave it there and don’t follow any of these recommendations?

Or what if someone wants to get a license to drive. If they study the rules of the road, and even learn the parts of a car that one must master in order to make it run, but never actually practice driving with a parent or other mentor, will they be ready to pass the test? And you may have experienced the difference between when a student driver or a practiced driver navigates an unknown country road that has not been maintained. My husband Glenn (in the photo above) has spent years perfecting how to choose the best path through ruts, rocks and potholes and how fast to drive when out in the bush. Practice has definitely made his skills exceptional!

Studying what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount has impressed on me once again that being a true disciple means going beyond just conforming to outward appearances, like saying you are a Christian and attending church. It means truly knowing Jesus (not just knowing about him), and knowing what he and his Father said in the Scriptures, and then actually practicing those things. Many writers have pointed out that Jesus’ message has often been viewed as good moral teaching, then set aside while life is lived as the person wishes.

But Jesus said, ““My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” (Lk. 8:21 NIV) To be in his Family means taking Scriptural instruction seriously and actually learning to live it out! Otherwise, you are showing that you are not related to him!

At the end of his Sermon on the Mount he described it this way:

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”  (Matt. 7:24-27 NIV)

The foundation, the Rock, is Jesus and his teaching. Putting what he said into practice prepares the disciple to stand firm, to be unshakeable, when a “storm” comes. He may be facing suffering, or opposition, or danger. But his true inner person stays firmly attached to Jesus and the Master’s straight, narrow path. He has been made strong by building his life on that foundation, whereas the person who did not practice the teaching was fragile. He crashed.

So to be Jesus’ devoted disciple, we must practice doing what he told us. Try doing this along with me: go through the Sermon on the Mount, read each section and meditate on it, pray, then decide how you should implement it in your life. Practice it, so that you can live it out as an automatic way to navigate life—like a skilled driver who intuitively makes the right decision when faced with an unexpected challenge. Here is a beginning list of topics Jesus’ underlined as key:

  • dealing appropriately with anger at a brother
  • being a peacemaker, doing what is necessary to work toward reconciliation
  • conquering lust
  • keeping your promise
  • loving your enemy
  • working to please God, not just to please people (godly motivation)
  • doing what honors your one Master
  • not worrying—trusting God’s love, his care
  • developing discernment—not “judging” without careful personal introspection, and avoiding assumptions
  • doing to others what you want them to do to you
  • staying on the straight path – not swayed by false teaching
  • doing the will of the Father – not as a nominal Christian, but as a true disciple

The writer of Hebrews encourages doing good, showing love, and then says:

Now we want each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the final realization of your hope, 12 so that you won’t become lazy but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance.1 (Heb. 6:11 CSB)

This is our hope: that there will come a day when everything is made new and we are in the actual Kingdom of Love established forever. But we are not supposed to just sit back and wait for it. If practice makes perfect, then it is true that laziness will not achieve the maturity in Christ that we desire. We cannot do it on our own—this is the fruit of the Spirit’s work in us—but our cooperation and diligence is also required.

Dallas Willard gives a useful process for being a true apprentice of Jesus. There are two primary objectives for this training. The first is that apprentices must come “to the point where they dearly love and constantly delight in that ‘heavenly Father’ made real to earth in Jesus and are quite certain that there is no ‘catch,’ no limit, to the goodness of his intentions or to his power to carry them out.”[2] If this is the reality in a person’s life, then their desire will be to do everything Jesus told them to do. The second objective is to be retrained so that our automatic tendencies to follow the kingdom of this world are changed into the automatic practice of the essentials of “the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Col. 1:13). This is accomplished through attention to the spiritual disciplines.[3] These are not punishments but practices that are like a curriculum for spiritual growth.

I personally have benefited hugely by following this curriculum. The Lord knows each of us intimately and he arranges the process according to our temperaments and needs. Our part is to pay attention to his direction, and then actually engage ourselves in the training. By doing so, we learn how to actually become more and more like Jesus, living out his principles. We get to know him better, becoming increasingly attached to him as we walk life with him and experience .his work in our lives and in the world around us.

In the coming weeks, I will be reviewing some of these key “disciplines.” I would love to hear from you readers! What has been truly helpful to you in getting to know and love Jesus and see personal transformation?

[1] Thomas O. Chisholm, “O to be Like Thee! Blessed Redeemer,” 1897.

[2] Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering our Hidden Life in God (HarperSanFrancisco, 1997), 321.

[3] Ibid., 322.

Revealed!

It happens when shafts of light
sent from the rising sun
strike the long lean leaf of grass:
you see how finely striped it is,
perfectly paralleled veins tracing
from stem to bowed leaf tips.

Life stripes!

You shine on us, Son, Light
that brings life to your waiting world.
You shine on us and suddenly
we are revealed for who we are:
lithe life-drinking light-soaking foliage,
or dried-up worn-out fallen leaves.

God does know exactly who we are. We may put on a show to convince others that we are walking the straight and narrow path and are truly good people. But God is light, and where the light shines, everything is shown up for what it is. The Lord is never deceived by the camouflage someone is wearing when they do all the “right stuff” like going to church, observing the right holidays, speaking correct words, but at the same time choosing to indulge some rooted appetite or rationalized wrongdoing.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Heb 4:13 NIV)

Yes, he knows us intimately, completely. And in our communities the truth also comes out, no matter how hard one tries to hide it. Who we really are will show up in some interaction, or a reaction to injury, or what we treasure most in life. When we think we are walking in the Light, as Jesus is in the Light, we should be models of healthy living. But it seems that all too often we stray off that well-lit path and the consequences are all too revealing. “Hah!” the onlookers say. “Looks like rotten fruit to me!” Jesus did say that the “fruit” produced will be the giveaway. He was talking specifically about “false prophets” in the message as it was recorded by Matthew:

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 15 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matt. 7:14 NIV)

We’ve heard way too many disconcerting stories about pastors or Christian teachers who seem to be especially good servants of the Lord, but then their devastating sin is revealed. God knew all along what was inside. But his light reveals the true essence in other people as well. The version recorded in Luke’s gospel is more general:

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? (Lk. 6:43 NIV)

Here it is clear that “fruit” is what people do or say, and it reveals what a person actually is inside. A true follower of Jesus must put his commands into practice! So, do we actually know what the Lord said to do, and take it seriously? This is where knowledge of him, and deep knowledge of what God has said we should be like in his Word, is essential.

That is one reason I spent my years of mission service devoted to translation of God’s Word into the Nyarafolo language. The new believers we were discipling in our first 20 years did not have access to that treasure. All that they knew was what they might hear in the message at church or what was passed on in a conversation. Some with more education could delve into the Bible in other languages. But as we began to produce drafts of Scripture texts in Nyarafolo and test them by reading them aloud, a very common reaction was: “Oh wow! So that is what that passage means!” They had only partially understood it until it was in their heart language.

And now the lack of true understanding by many Nyarafolo believers is becoming revealed as the Word spreads. When Moïse was preaching at a service we attended last month in Ferke, he said that lately it has been mostly nonbelievers who are eager to get the new Nyarafolo Scripture app on their phones! This is very attractive, a Holy Book in modern digital format that includes the audio version of the New Testament. They want to be in on this modern treasure! Several have come back to the Scripture-in-Use team to ask, “Is this book really the same one that you have in your churches?” “Yes,” they are told. Their reaction is not what is expected: “Well, you ‘Christians’ sure are not doing what it says!”

It made me wonder if these questioners had started by listening to Matthew, and when reaching the Message on the Mount, they had heard the Beatitudes and their emphasis on right living and peacemaking, the strong teaching about loving your neighbor and your enemies and about not judging others while refusing to pay attention to your own fault. And I wondered how many Nyarafolo believers have actually digested all those truths. Had they even heard them? They had only received their copies of the Scriptures two years ago. Many are still learning to read.

We all need to know what Jesus said we are to be like when we are his people. And not only that, we need to be serious about putting that teaching into practice. When we don’t, others who know what he said will look at us as though light is shining on us, showing us up either as healthy devoted Jesus followers or as withering branches. We are in a process of sanctification, it is true, but are we hungering for righteousness? Are we working at living out his instructions?

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matt. 5:6 NIV)

And if we are “filled,” it will be showing up in our actions and our character.

Jesus longs for us to be so attached to him that we have all the nourishment we need to produce good fruit (John 15). Otherwise, he told us, when a branch in the vine is diseased or dead, it will be clear that it is worthless and may as well just be cut off. That nourishment for the true follower, one solidly attached to Jesus who is the Vine, comes from the Spirit living in them and it produces good fruit:

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23 NLT).

Ah! How do my actions fit that paradigm? This is a good passage to use for self-examination. Am I demonstrating love? Am I joyful? Am I experiencing and making peace? Am I patient? Am I kind? Is goodness clearly an essential characteristic of my life? Am I faithful to my Master and to whatever promises I make? Am I gentle? Do I demonstrate self-control?

When we have entered through the narrow gate, leaving behind our attachment to the world’s values and our selfish nature, we are truly walking a narrow path. It is the one laid out for us through the Lord’s teaching. Let us put it into practice!

The Long Run

“The joy of the Lord is my strength.”
And how does that work out?
I’m tired, dragged down by all the brokenness:
women scrounging far and wide for water,
youth without a future, men distressed.
Marriages are fragmented, replete
with selfishness, misunderstanding, pain.
Wars and crime make headlines every day.
I cannot make it go away.

“The joy of the Lord is my strength.”
I turn away from the huge mess
and try to focus all on him:
my eyes, my inner being, frenzied mind.
What I see is goodness: pure and strong,
healthy, wise, courageous, tender,
understanding, pulsing love --
love that gives itself completely for the other,
for me, for my good in the long run.
 

May I remember this: it is a long run!
There is some joy in the journey:
victories, signs of transformation,
friends who care, numerous blessings
way beyond what I deserve.
If I just take the time to notice.
There are goals met, prayers answered,
delicious fruit and art and song and fun.
Remember these, tired soul, while you run!

And grab the hands of others in the race,
grab the one who stumbles on the path.
But while you keep on serving, 
hold on tight to that one hand
that always pulls you through.
Feel his goodness coursing through your veins
to give you joy, and strength to run
to the sweet goal that lies ahead:
complete renewal after the long run.

When Glenn and I were preparing ourselves for 2023, we drove down to Belle Isle the afternoon of New Year’s Eve. The island sits in the middle of the Detroit River, and where we parked we could see across to Canada. We were there to spend a few hours in silence, listening to what the Lord might be saying to us. It was too cold to go outside, but just sitting there in the car, watching the water flowing by, infused us with peace.

At first, as usual, it took a while for my thoughts to quit roaming. There was so much going on in the world, in our family, in our plans for the future. I had to quietly lay each concern in the hands of the Lord. Finally, the silence began to reign.

And what I heard surprised me. It was a line from a song we used to sing in my childhood: “The joy of the Lord is my strength!” It continued to play, over and over, and I took it as an indication that this was to be my 2023 theme. What would it mean? How could I learn to rest in the truth that “joy” is not the same as feeling happy? It is more exuberant than that, and when linked to “the Lord” it has a whole other connotation. Just as his peace is not the same as what the world gives, so his joy is extra-ordinary, a force that streams from his heart and his sovereign knowledge of the course of the world that is way beyond our understanding.

It is not the first time that he has impressed on me my need to rely on his joy as my strength. The poem featured above was written in 2016! We were on the field, serving in Côte d’Ivoire, when these words poured from my pen into my notebook on a Saturday morning when I was in my silent space, praying, listening. I was tired. There were major concerns not only in the world at large but many coming to my attention every day as local people flowed into my life. They were poor, managing life in a setting where personal funds were sparse, sicknesses like malaria a constant challenge, and relational issues often seemingly insurmountable. Whether they needed counsel, encouragement, or financial aid, it required personal investment of some kind from us.

Now, the Lord was preparing me for a repeat. We were going back to that other home for six weeks, and we knew that the needs would be there waiting for us, people dear to us hoping for relief. Our goals included working towards solutions to some of those problems, like improvements at the chicken farm that has the goal of helping widows in dire straits, and preparation with the former Nyarafolo translation team for what we hoped might be their future: working together to finish the rest of the Old Testament. Their jobs were at stake, yes, but more importantly, they were clinging to the dream of having the entire Bible available for their people, still a least-reached people group. Could it happen?

As you probably know, amazing answers to prayer showed up. Hope for a much better future was being put in place as the widows’ co-op researched how to move ahead, changing from raising meat chickens to layers. It was harder to know what might happen with the translation project. We were practicing long-distance approaches to translation, hoping, and I was editing drafts of literature. But that is not all that was happening.

I was delighted to be back “home,” where my roots are deep after spending most of my life in that country. It was pure pleasure just to take my morning walks outdoors and through town. Friends were visiting daily, bringing gifts of home-cooked local meals or roasted peanuts, whatever they could provide. And as we shared news back and forth, there were stories of astonishing progress. On the other hand, great needs were often revealed: inadequate funds for schooling or medical help or building a home, a relative gone missing, crop failures, dreams dashed. These were people who were not strangers but long-term friends and “companions of the Road,” like family to us. We were able to help many of them. There were other needs beyond us. But in each case, we prayed with them for the Lord’s guidance and provision.

“The joy of the Lord is your strength!” I kept hearing the refrain, reminding me not to let sadness or compassion-fatigue reign in my heart. I needed to turn to the One who provides strength, through joy. It was easy to feel that joy when we saw answers to our prayers. But there was a certain concern in particular, a relationship gone sour, that seemed to elude all attempts to resolve the issues. Where is joy then?

I asked the Lord that question as I sat with him in the early morning. I was reading the last chapters in John, contemplating what it means to be attached to the vine, to be one with my Lord and with his people. And when I turned my thoughts to his desire for that kind of intimate connection, I would sense that joy that he talked about. If I could just become increasingly one with him, with him living in me more and more completely, that joy would strengthen me for whatever he would have me to do. I could almost feel it! So I would go out into the pre-dawn dark to start my walk, and he was with me. There was joy. Throughout the day, I needed to just turn my thoughts to him, and his presence was what I needed. That was where I found joy and was strengthened for the “run” that we were on.

I picked our a book that was on the bookshelf in the bedroom of the house we were living in:  Life Without Lack, by Dallas Willard. He is long gone on to heaven but is still mentoring me! This is one of the gems I found there:

“The strength you experience in this day with Jesus will be followed by a deep sense of joy and confidence. You can count on that. Jesus was full of joy and he means for us to be full as well . . .These things have I spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:11). . . When we are with Jesus, the resources available to us are in such overflowing abundance that Paul is emphatic about what our general response should be: Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! (Phil. 4:4). Joy brings with it confidence. It is, in fact, a matter of confidence. It is not some kind of superecstatic state. Joy is a pervasive sense of well-being that claims your entire body and soul . . .Joy comes naturally when we are confident (‘con-fide,’ literally ‘acting in faith’) about who we are and what we are doing. To be with Jesus is to have both.”[1]

Turning my thoughts to him increased my confidence, my trust. There was still pressure: so much to do, and schedules were constantly interrupted by people. Yes, we were back in Africa. There was joy in community, and it was a great reminder that we are not running the race alone—even when the race is long. With my eyes on the Lord who knows what is around the corner, and who is ultimately in charge, I could keep running.

His ways are beyond our understanding. It turned out that he would bring unexpected answers to prayer during that very last day we had there in Ferke before heading south to depart. The message came at the end of the translation team’s morning with their new board: yes, their project was now approved by SIL! We rejoiced together. That was joy as we were experiencing what the Lord had done. And that afternoon, the difficult relationship was also addressed, and at last there was mutual understanding and forgiveness.

You make me glad by your deeds, LORD; I sing for joy at what your hands have done. (Ps. 92:4 NIV)

We were literally exhausted as we made our way south the next day, and we’re still feeling it after the long trip and moving back into Detroit life. By there is a new understanding of joy in my mind, and a renewed determination to turn my eyes onto Jesus throughout the day. I will continue to find my joy—my confident well-being—in Him.

May it be so for you, too, however long your run may be, whatever pressures may be exhausting you. Turn to him, and the joy that comes from him will be your strength!

[1] Dallas Willard, Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23. (Thomas Nelson, 2018) 194-195.

That Living Water!

Lord, may the rivers of living water
 flow from my heart!
You are the source, the eternal spring –
Spirit of Yahweh, to you I sing!

Well up within me and fill my soul 
till it overflows
and brings relief to this thirsty land,
your mercy reaching through my open hand!

Clean out my heart of whatever trash is
 blocking the flow
of your pure current, help from above
bringing hope to the hurting through your endless love.

“Living water!” What is that?

In the Scriptures there are several ways that the imagery of “living water,” a spring, is used to teach us what it means to live in unity with God Himself, doing what he most wants to do. In John 7:38-39 Jesus explains that it is the Spirit living in us that flows like living water to others. And in Ephesians 3:15-19 we learn that when we are strengthened inwardly by the power of the Spirit, the Messiah living in us, we can learn the infinite dimension of God’s love and be filled with the fullness of God. That is when that love can keep on overflowing, touching those around us. The Lord is the source, when on our own we would run dry.

I am dipping into those truths again during this time back in Nyarafololand, where the needs of people around us tear at our hearts and make us wish we could meet them all. That is when we truly need that discernment that comes through our Counselor, the Spirit. And there are times when he says to stretch beyond what is “normal,” depending on him. One of the ways in which we’ve seen him supply what was beyond expectations was through those who gave through the years to our Compassion Fund so that we could help young people who were truly in desperate straits. It was God’s compassionate love flowing through them, with us as a kind of pipeline, to many who needed “living water” in this parched land.

Let me tell you three inspiring stories that will demonstrate the amazing way God reached out through some of you to change their life paths.

These two brothers are from Tiepogovogo, our “home” village. They decided to follow Jesus when they were teens. Their father, a nominal Muslim deeply involved in traditional occult practices, was so angry he basically threw them out: no more food, no help. They were in high school, and suddenly had no support. The Compassion Fund was able to come to their rescue and pay school fees. Through years of desperation, often wondering how they would make it through to the next year, they stayed true to Jesus.

The older of the brothers, Nyihɛnɛnifanhanɛ, married a young Palaka woman, Clementine, when Glenn was here last year. They now have twin baby boys, José and Joseph. Nyihɛnɛfanhanɛ is now teaching in a new elementary school that recently opened near where he lives. He was able to get his middle school diploma through the help of the Compassion Fund, which makes him eligible to do this.

Pedjouyaha, still single, is now teaching biology at a private high school in town. With the help of generous donors he was able to get an associate’s degree in agricultural development, his passion, but kept being taken advantage of by different companies as an “intern” with no pay. He finally realized he might be able to fill in as a teacher since the need here is desperate, and now has even earned the award of “best teacher” in the school this year due to his skills in communication and computer. He is working toward getting the teaching certificate necessary for teaching at this level so that he can continue to stay in the profession. As his shirt proclaims, yes, he loves what he does!

And interestingly, their father now admires them. He actually calls for advice whenever something comes up, even training in a trade for a younger brother who has a disability. Maybe someday he will realize that these two young men are where they are socially because they are in the Family of Yahweh, the God of love!

The young woman holding her baby, her first child, is Haby, who I came to know as a young pre-teen when my friend Saly began to foster her. Haby was friends with Saly’s daughter, so they had become aware of her suffering after her mother died, when her father’s other wife began to abuse her. So Saly took her in, but did not have enough income through her secretarial job at the police station (then the town hall) to provide for her two daughters as well as for Haby. One of our dear friends sponsored Haby through the Compassion Fund. Haby was able to go to school and came to know the Lord, too. She excelled in high school and was accepted at the university, where they decided she would major in Spanish! (You don’t get to choose your own major!). The Lord provided a strong Christian man as her husband, and she is now teaching Spanish in Korhogo, a major city near Ferke, at a private school. And she, too, is a shining light, a person who was nourished by spring-fed waters and is passing it on.

Perhaps the idea of living water being a flow of compassion is new to you. Here is a passage from Isaiah that underlines the way mercy and social justice actually are what demonstrate that you are truly worshiping Yahweh, the LORD, rather than just performing religious observances, and become light and living water. It is much easier to ignore this teaching than to live it out, but many believers are exactly that, light and refreshing water, as they live out the compassion that matters. And in exchange, they are blessed by the Lord with his presence and guidance and strength. Such encouragement!

6 Isn’t the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness,to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him,and not to ignoreyour own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly.Your righteousness will go before you,and the LORD’s glory will be your rear guard. 9 At that time, when you call, the LORD will answer;when you cry out, He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you,the finger-pointing and malicious speaking  10 and if you offer yourself  to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness,and your night will be like noonday. 11 The LORD will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden  and like a spring whose waters never run dry. (Isa. 58:6-11 CSB)

The wadi (seasonal wetland) in the featured photo above, just down the road from where we are living, is nearly completely dry right now and the space around it has dried up. When the rains finally come, everything will change. There will be water for the animals, and rice fields that succeed. It is amazing what a difference flowing water can make! Let us be like a spring of refreshing water, drinking in the loving kindness of our God, and see the way a parched land can become verdant!

Blaze!

Across the bristling grasses
and the breezy palm tree dance
lies a long lagoon, all liquid,
mirror for the sky’s expanse.

Underneath a white-hot sun
it becomes a brilliant blast
and my eyelids squint to slivers
letting just a glimmer past:

just the essence of the power,
just the outline of the heat,
just impressions of the splendor
and the tantalizing beat.

If, laid open to God’s shining,
I could be but half as bright, 
mirror molten by reflecting
glory of the Living Light,

fire ignited in the noon glow
as I’m changed beneath his rays,
eyes around would have to notice
my resemblance to his Blaze.

While walking down Ferke’s main road one morning I met the man in the photo above. He had no idea what the words on his shirt meant, but was excited to be greeted and delighted that I wanted a picture of it. I did try to explain to him that it was what followers of Jesus are told to do: to share the light that is actually Jesus, the Light of the World. He didn’t get it, did not even respond—I think he may even be one of those people who need mental help but have no way to access it. There are those in these streets.

Have you ever wondered what would really let your light shine? It’s interesting to contemplate:  Jesus is the Light of the World, yet we are also told to be lights!

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn. 8:12 NIV)

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matt. 5:14 NIV)

The only way we can be the “light of the world” is through our relationship with the Light of the World. When he lives in us, he can shine through us. If we follow him, letting him transform us to be like him, then his light shines more and more brightly.

Why do we want to shine? So that others “may see [our] good deeds and glorify [our] Father in heaven!” It is not about us, but about inciting praise of the one who is pure Light:

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (1 Jn. 1:5 NIV)

So we are supposed to stand out in a luminous way. For those of us with a strong tendency to introversion, this can be a challenge. I admit that it has taken years for me to realize that standing out, as someone different, can actually be a boon.

I actually had to learn to put up with it early in my childhood, growing up in Africa. When you have white skin and live in an area with few others like you, you draw attention. I went to the U.S. for my senior year of high school and found out I was so different (a Third-Culture Kid) that I could not fit into that American teen culture—it took a few months to accept that and discover other ways to make friends. When I returned as a missionary and had little children, it was never surprising when someone would reach out to touch their straight hair. They just looked so different than those around them. When we were living in high-risk times and were required to draw up plans for hiding out and escaping via back roads we kept muttering, “Anyone know how hard it is to blend in? We could not hide for long!”

But through the years it became more and more clear that we should turn things around and see how the Lord could use our difference.

As I did cultural research, one thing I kept asking was, “How have you seen missionaries do things that delight people, and what has been hard?” One outstanding comment was: “Nurse Linda Sharp always smiles! We love that.” And I heard it about others too, that it is deeply appreciated when they notice those around them and interact with them.

I learned that for me, usually in my office working on linguistics and translation, my unusual opportunities to shine, or stand out, came when I was walking in town, especially if I spoke to people in Nyarafolo. I would greet a vegetable seller and ask the price, and instead of answering she would turn to a neighbor to exclaim, “She speaks Nyarafolo!” She knew no other White who could do that! When I was walking from our courtyard to a church during our process of checking our Nyarafolo drafts of Scripture with groups, I would be carrying my bright locally-made computer bag. Several times a woman would ask me, “Where are you going every day? What are you carrying?” And I would tell them about the Bible being translated into Nyarafolo, and that we would have it read to an audience and hear their responses. Shock! Amazement! Seeds planted!

And it is still that way. During this visit I’m living in a different part of town than I used to, and the best way for me to get in my daily walk is to follow the main road from the hospital south to the big high school, Lycée Moderne, then back. It is early morning. Students are walking to class, women are putting out their garden produce to sell, men are opening up their stalls that sell all sorts of goods. If I were to just walk past them, saying nothing, they would definitely think I was just a tourist. I sometimes hear them comment to each other in the trade language, Dioula, “There goes a tubabu muso!” – a “white woman.” They are surprised when I turn and wave and greet them in Nyarafolo or French, whichever fits the case. And I greet the women who look at me as I pass, using Nyarafolo. Even if they are Nyarafolo, they often answer in Dioula (the trade language), assuming that is what I must speak, then the jaw drops and they switch to their mother tongue and test me to see how far I can go in conversation. Having been marginalized for decades, their language dismissed as too complicated, they are delighted and feel affirmed. The next time I pass them, they call out their greeting in Nyarafolo, or even shout my Nyarafolo name, “Penyuonekuo!” It has become not only fun, but an opportunity to tell some of them that their language is written, and that if they go over to the courtyard behind the monument (to those who died serving France in WWII, in the city square), there are books available and people who can teach them to read.

Now that is just a start. But it opens a door to communication. One student I talked with is Nyarafolo and attends a local church. As we chatted, she expressed her desire to have her own Bible! If I see her again we will arrange that. Another one only speaks French with me; she is Peul, or Fulani, from a Muslim family. She seems to really want to connect with this friendly American and even calls me in the evening. I am hoping we can meet to talk in more depth.

One morning I was in a Mauritanian-owned “Superette” at the far end of town, my first time there, so I was talking to the man behind the counter and he was telling me that he is a friend of Josh Wohlgemut, one of the other missionaries here. Then a young woman came up behind us, stocking some shelves, and she greeted me in Nyarafolo. After greeting her back I asked, “So do you know me?” “No,” she said, “but I know you speak Nyarafolo!” So word is getting around.

Now if only I were going to be here longer, I would be able to follow up on more of these contacts. But it is underlining for me how vital it is that an enticing light be shining from me, wherever I am. Jesus said that the way people will know we are his followers is if we follow his commands, and love one another. And he sends us into the world to tell others about his love, and to “shine”. That is what happens here when suddenly a woman passing me stops and greets me with delight because we’ve known each other in the past, and we begin sharing in whatever language we have in common. A Nyarafolo conversation starts a buzz among those nearby in the market, for instance—they can’t believe someone has actually learned their language and knows other Nyarafolos here! It is respect they rarely experience. When we turn and show unusual love in some way to others it is a moment that shines his light. People may not recognize it at first—just as many did not understand his light when he came (John 1) but it still shone, and many did eventually decide to walk in his light.

What if I just kept to myself and ignored everyone? What would that say about me, to them? Here, it would mean I don’t care, that I see myself as separate. There are those who don’t meet my eyes, looking down or away; that is their way of showing timidity or discomfort. So I respect that. But then there is the other side. Sometimes they will suddenly look up, see a smile, and smile back when they are noticed. Often they are the ones in rags, or limping. And if it is an older man in Muslim dress, sure, then as a woman, I should not connect. Wherever we are we can learn what is respectable conduct.

These past years of retirement we are back to living in Detroit, as we did during that evacuation 2002-2006 and then periodically for furlough/home assignment. Now it is home. Living in a mostly Black neighborhood, one thing that is extremely different from the suburbs is that people actually greet each other when meeting on a sidewalk or in a store. We really enjoy that. My husband Glenn leapt to the challenge of fitting in that way with delight. He goes up to an older woman working at a service desk, greets her and asks how her grandchildren are doing (if she is looking at photos or something that clues him in). The sparkle in her response shows that she sees she is being acknowledged as a real person, not just a clerk. Even at a busy cash register there is usually a good moment to say “Hi!” and ask how things are when it is so busy.

I do feel like a neon sign, in both worlds. There is no way not to stand out, my skin setting me apart as rare in these contexts. Seeing this as a phenomenon that the Lord can use to show acceptance, to cross racial barriers, to encourage people, makes a huge difference. And in this town where Americans are known to be connected to the Baptist Hospital, to the mission, people are watching to see what such Christians are like. Experiences have taught me that the Light of the World can definitely shine through when we do what he says, and show love rather than ignoring people and walking right on by.

When in a place where I don’t stand out that way, such as in a long line at an airport, there have been occasions when I felt that prompting to chat with the person waiting beside me. Once in a while it has led to truly unexpected openings. This can happen to any of us when we pay attention!

I still have learning to do. I want to “blaze” in a way that will draw people to the Light, wherever I am, not push them away. This is our calling, all of us who are the light of the world, to show God’s love in what we do and how we act toward others. We are not to hide our light, but to let it light up “everyone in the house” (Mat 5:14). Wow!  Blaze!

A friend recently posted this C.S. Lewis quote that is truly relevant:  “Don’t shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you others can see him.”

The Story God is Writing

You make us your heifer, pulling the plow,
you shape us and train us, showing us how
to lean to the left when your strong hand presses,
to walk straight ahead, cleaning up messes
and tearing out weeds, preparing the way
for planting the seed in that soil on the day
when all is in readiness, soft dirt tilled,
and we press in the seeds till	the rows are all filled.

You must give the seed; our own is diseased.
You must show how to plant it and tend it, then please –
you must send the rain that will make the shoots thrive,
the rain of what’s right and of hope that’s alive.
The roots will go deep, the stems will grow tall,
the leaves will shout green and the blossoms will fall
to make way for grain that is bred up above:
a life-giving harvest of unfailing love.

Back in the ‘80s, when we were just beginning to disciple the slowly growing group of believers in the little village of Tiepogovogo, one of the little boys sitting on the big tree root for Sunday School was Pekaly. I was mentoring young Mariame as the teacher, and she was amazing. The boys were entranced. Who knew that we were participating in the beginning of something bigger than we could have imagined?

It is only with time that pieces of the story have come together, and God’s fingerprints are all over it.

We were at Tcherigaha this past Sunday, celebrating what God has done with the believers there and from all the villages where Pastor Pekaly and his wife Tchomachen have been ministering. There were over 100 people there, and not everyone could make the long trip—transportation is a challenge, and this village is at the edge of Nyarafolo terrioty. In fact, it is peopled by the Palaka, a related language group. Our company of travelers that took off from Lafokpokaha, where Pastor Pekaly and his wife live, included a couple of motos and a three-wheel moto hauling about 9 people in its wagon. When we saw the new church building, unfinished though it is, we couldn’t help having flashbacks to how the story started about 50 years ago.

A few years before Glenn and I arrived in Côte d’Ivoire to begin ministry (that was 1973), a young man in Tiepogovogo was lying down in his little man-hut to go to sleep when he looked up and saw a man robed in glowing white standing at the foot of his bed. “Are you awake, Lacina?” the man said. “Yes!” Lacina answered, “But who are you?”  “I am Jesus, and if you follow me many others in this region will too!”  Lacina was shocked. “But I don’t know you! And I’ve never been school! How can I find out about you?”  “You will see.” And then Jesus left.

Lacina told his good friend Sikatchi, and together they began searching for information. They went to a Catholic church but only heard the name “Mary” repeated. They were with a sick relative at the Baptist Hospital but all was taught in other languages they could not understand. Then it happened: to their astonishment, a young white couple walked into their village, hoping to learn more Nyarafolo—their language helper, Laji, was son of the village chief.

Years later Lacina and Sikatchi told us that they looked at each other and said, “Ah! We are chosen!” They knew that Glenn and I came from the Baptist Hospital. Maybe someday we would be able to inform them. And so eventually it did happen. About four years later they asked us to teach them about Jesus. Using Laji as a translator (he knew a little French), Glenn began teaching them on Wednesday nights. We were in a courtyard gathered around a fire. Some others became believers, so they built a little thatched roof shelter where we could meet on Sundays. By the ‘90s they had built a small cement building where about 20 people could gather. Up until then, Sunday School had been held under the big shady tree; it moved into the thatched shelter.

And Pekaly was one of those kids, truly devoted to Jesus. He was Lacina’s son, an interesting connection! When Mariame and her husband moved south for his education to continue, and civil war began, there was no longer anyone around to teach Sunday School. So Pekaly and his friend Kifory began teaching the kids. He also helped lead church services. When another son of the village, Fouhoton, came home from Bible school to pastor the growing church, Pekaly finally shared with him how much he yearned to also get pastoral training. So he was sent to the Bethel Bible Institute and graduated in 2012. His senior thesis was on the history of how the Good News had come to the Ferke district, where Nyarafolos lived, a testament to his motivation to do evangelism among his people. So few had been reached!

The Baptist Association allowed him to stay in that district since his home church, in Tiepogovogo (population 70), had agreed to send him on mission to plant a church in nearby Lafokpokaha (population 1,000), the largest village in that eastern area. Both Pekaly and Fouhoton had attended the elementary school there and knew the need. Many people identified as Catholic, but few followed any of the teaching once they had a baptismal certificate. We were with the delegation that was sent to Lafokpokaha to meet with the chief and ask for permission to plant a church there. We did not expect the response we got! Yes, the chief said, he would like to have Baptists come: perhaps they could build a hospital there. But the clinching reason was this: when Baptists come, curses stop!

What did he mean by that? Another miracle explained it! Pastor Fouhoton’s wife was from that village and her older sister still lived there. She was married but had never been able to have a baby that lived. Eight babies had either been born dead or, after a few months, had developed blisters all over the body and died. It was known that the woman’s mother-in-law hated her and had put a curse on her. Victorine, a woman of faith, told her sister that if she were to give herself to Jesus, she could have a living child! And her sister began walking the long path between Lafokpokaha and Tiepogovogo every Sunday, learning the Good News and devoting herself to Christ. The next time she was pregnant she gave birth to a live baby girl. Sure enough, in a few months the blisters showed up, but she lived! The whole population saw the miracle,  and the little five-year-old girl now also had a little brother, a toddler, who was healthy.  The chief saw that as proof that a Baptist church brought good things and should be planted among them.

It was not an easy beginning. Not all the village elders were convinced this should happen, so it took at least a year for Pekaly and his wife to be allotted land there. While waiting, they lived with us in Ferke and commuted to Lafokpokaha weekly. In October 2012 Pekaly had his first meeting with the interested villagers there, gathering under a mango tree adjoining Fouhoton’s in-laws’courtyard, Victorine’s sister’s family. By November ten people had decided to enter the Jesus Road and others were expressing interest. Four of them brought their occult paraphernalia to be burned by the believers as they committed themselves to the Lord. A year later, there were 16 committed believers meeting in a small mud-and-thatch gazebo structure.

It was taking a while for the village elders to agree to give them land for a church, but nevertheless God was at work. On October 27, 2013, we joined the enthusiastic congregation at the church plant in Lafokpokaha for their first birthday. Yes, in just one year the Lord had added 15 new believers to the one that was already in that village, and they had finally been granted land at the edge of the village to eventually build a church. We arrived in time for Sunday School and saw the meeting place filled with about 40 kids eagerly listening to the story of how Jesus healed people, showing his power as God. Then the space filled up again with the congregation and visitors joining for the special day. The emphasis of the message, Glenn’s words of encouragement, and even of the closing song was on continued growth that comes as each one shares with others the Good News. Glenn had gotten ants down his back, necessitating a couple of quick exits to try to shake out the critters, so he used that to remind them that small things can have a very big impact! And in the weeks after that, two more people decided to follow Christ.

By August 2015 the group in Lafokpo had built a church building. It had a roof, windows and doors, no floor yet when we visited there. We had become very close “family” to Pekaly and his wife Tchomachen, and their children, during the time they lived with us before being given land for a home there. Glenn kept on mentoring Pekaly, and was encouraged by his devotion to reaching out with the Good News. By 2017 Pekaly was also discipling new believers in three other villages. One of them was Tcherigaha, where we visited this past Sunday. He was planting seed, plowing the ground like God’s heifer (see Hosea 10:11-12), sharing God’s love through his own heart reaching out with kindness to those God placed in his path.

How did a church get started in another language group, at Tcherigaha, so far away? Here is the story:

In 2016, Pastor Cissoko, from the Bromakote Baptist Church in Ferke, was on his way home to Ferke from a meeting in a distant Lobi town (further east of the Palaka region). He stopped by a little shop along the road to get fuel for his motorcycle and struck up a conversation with the shop owner, Jeremie. Cissoko is Jula, so was talking to him in the trade language Jula about Jesus. Jeremie was intrigued and said he would like to learn more. It was a few months later that Pastor Cissoko told Pekaly about this connection he had made. So Pekaly rode his “moto” out to meet with him, and found that Jeremie was truly ready to come to Jesus! The problem was that he is Palaka, so needed to understand more of the Good News in his own language. Then Pekaly remembered that he had an uncle who lived in Tcherigaha, a half-brother of his mother, who had come to know Jesus at the Baptist Hospital. Pekaly looked him up. He spoke both Palaka and Nyarafolo so he became his nephew’s translator, and Pekaly began discipling his Uncle Doulaye, Jeremie, and another young man. As others heard about this more people kept joining them, including some from a neighboring village, all thirsty to hear about the Living Water.

This was a challenge for Pekaly, commuting back and forth each Sunday after the morning service in Lafokokaha to teach at Tcherigaha Sunday evenings—financially as well as physically fatiguing. But his passion kept him going. He worked on several side projects to support his family (raising pigs, harvesting honey) and so did his wife, Tchomacen.

By May 2017 there were 43 people in Tcherigaha who had declared their allegiance to Jesus, more than half of them women and children. This is unprecedented here, such growth across language and ethnic boundaries, happening much more quickly than in the Nyarafolo areas where Pekaly and Fouhoton had both been evangelizing. This was fertile ground where people were receptive! An asset for watering the growing harvest was the work of missionaries with Ethnos 360 (formerly New Tribes) among the Palaka, which provided valuable materials like recordings of Palaka believers’ songs. Music in Palaka took off in the Tcherigaha meetings, and when we were there last Sunday with the mixed group of Nyarafolos and Palakas, one of the main singers was a Palaka woman with songs everyone loved.

Their mutual love and encouragement was so obvious as we danced and sang together for two hours on the church’s dirt floor. They, too, have walls and a tin roof but no flooring yet. Two women kept splashing cups of water over the dirt so that the dust would not fill the air, but our feet sure got dirty. Who cares? What matters is that we all love Jesus and are so grateful for him and all he has done in us and our families. And Glenn’s message fit the scene as he reminded us all that it takes energy and hard work to produce a harvest—you cannot just throw out seed and then sit back, doing nothing, and think there will be a good crop.

Let’s put together the pieces in this plotline: Jesus appearing to Pekaly’s father (Lacina), Pekaly’s call to ministry, his heart for evangelism and perseverance through tough times, the “chance” meeting of Pastor Cissoko with Jeremie from that Palaka village, Pekaly’s mom’s half-brother who “just happened” to live there and was bilingual and also ready to know more about Jesus, and a group of people from another language group who were ready to come to Christ, two ethnic groups accepting and loving each other!

God had a plan! I am reminded of Jesus’ words that still echo throughout the world today:

I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. (Jn. 10:16 NIV)

The Palaka and the Nyarafolo are still among the least-reached people groups in Côte d’Ivoire, but Tcherigaha’s story is an example of how Jesus is bringing his sheep into his flock from different groups, and showing them how to be one flock under his care! And it shows that what Jesus said would happen, when he appeared to Lacina, is happening. Many people in this region are entering the Jesus Road!

Unexpected Paths of Grace

Her face was crushed
when the taxi crashed;
all her hopes were dashed.
What she did not know
was how God would show
ways his love will flow
to sheep in his flock
and turn twisted plots,
unexpected knots,
into paths of grace
when they seek his face
and keep running the race.

I heard the call at the door, “Kaw kaw!”—the way people knock in Ferkessédougou. There outside the porch door was one of the Baptist Hospital nurses, Jonathan, with a young teen girl beside him. I invited them in, gave the normal cup of water to each one, and then Jonathan said, “This is Mariam, who has been at the hospital for treatment for two months after the taxi she was riding in had an accident. While she was there, she came to know Jesus. She is Nyarafolo so I am giving her to you!”

That was a first for me, and the beginning of a deeply moving story that began about 25 years ago. Mariam (to the left in the photo above) and I met together frequently for prayer. She needed much encouragement, since her father was a strong Muslim who was not at all pleased with her decision to follow Jesus. One day she came over to our house with deep anxiety. He had told her that he had pledged her to become the fourth wife of an old man in the community. What could she do?

Glenn and I were perplexed. We asked national pastors for advice, and they said we should “hide” her. A young man that we had sent away for training at the seminary in Abidjan, Abdoulaye, in preparation for future work in Nyarafolo translation, agreed to accept her in his family home to protect her. His wife Mariame was an outstanding young mom and had taught Sunday School with me at Tiepogovogo, so I knew that this young Mariam would be in good hands. She helped with housework and childcare, living there for a couple of years.

Then she came back to Ferke, staying on the other side of town, still not in touch with her family. She was attending the Baptist church in that district and met a young man there who asked him to marry her. It did not turn out as hoped. He got her pregnant then left for Mali. She gave birth to a little girl, and decided to reach out to her father for help since we were not around (evacuated for three years when civil war broke out). Things took an unexpected turn: her father was entranced by the baby girl, his new granddaughter, and took them both back into the courtyard.

Mariam continued her walk of faith, and some of her older sisters decided to follow Jesus too. But a physical problem was continuing. Her eyes were constantly draining fluid, and the medical treatments she received were not changing that. We had been trying for years to get the taxi’s insurance to take care of her medical bills without success. Finally, a reliable lawyer in Abidjan was able to partially crack the corrupt justice system and get some payment—but her father took the funds to use in other ways.

Tene, her daughter (the girl at the right in the photo), was growing up. When we returned she would often stop by to see me on her way home from school and get a welcome drink of water. Mariam was beginning to develop a small business, braiding hair. And then a young Nyarafolo man in her church began to court her. Even when he was completely informed about her physical issues, even when his pastor told him he was too poor and she was too poor to consider marriage, he was determined. Pedjouyaha married her and they found space in a courtyard where other members of his family lived.

She set up a small booth for her business. He was still looking for other work—he had been rising at 4 a.m. to catch transportation out to the sugar plantation to do hard labor. It was long hours, very low pay. So he found a job cleaning at a new hotel in town, but after two months of work, he still had received no pay. He came to us for advice. We had just heard that there was an opening for another guard at the hospital, and recommended him. He was hired, and is still there!

Two years ago Mariam was able to see a doctor specializing in eye surgery down in Abidjan, and went through six hours of surgery. The specialist finally found a small piece of bone (broken in that taxi accident) that was causing the chronic infection and constant drainage! Because Pedjouyaha was working at the Baptist Hospital in Ferke, the insurance that covered staff at that time paid for this procedure. Now, one gland is still draining and the doctor wants to operate again, but the insurance at the Baptist Hospital no longer covers expenses outside its own services. So they wait.

Nevertheless God is using them in another unexpected way. Tene is now a lovely teen with three younger brothers and sisters, one of them born shortly after that eye surgery two years ago (center in the photo, in her father’s arms). Then one year ago the couple was “given” a newborn to raise, a little girl whose mother (Pedjouyaha’s sister-in-law) had died while giving birth. So Mariam has been mothering her own two-year-old as well this baby now one year old (the baby in Mariam’s arms). It is common for families to expect female relatives to take in motherless babies, but the story behind this case is startling.

One month after taking in the little girl they named “Grace,” they had also been given a second baby to care for, a little boy whose mother had also died while giving birth! Both deceased mothers were sister-in-laws of Pedjouyaha. It turns out that the two women had hated each other, and they had each gone to a sorcerer to have a curse put on the other one. They had been heard taunting each other as their pregnancies advanced, “You are going to die in childbirth!” “No, you are going to die!” Both of them died, going into labor one month apart!

The two babies both became ill, just two days after the boy joined the family. Both were hospitalized. The boy needed oxygen. Just two days later, died. He was only three weeks old.

But Grace recovered and is still doing well, a jolly little toddler with fat cheeks who keeps getting hugs from her big sister, one year older than she.

This story reminds me of this meaningful verse:

He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. (Isa. 40:11 NLT)

Isn’t the grace of our Lord evident in this story? Out of ongoing tragedies, the Lord has put together a generous family that has welcomed more than just their own children into their loving arms. They still live at a poverty level. With all the little ones to care for, and the eye issues and surgery, Mariam has had to drop her hair braiding business and make do selling some things. Pedjouyaha’s job as a hospital guard gives them enough to live on, but not enough for extra things. If it were not for the compassion fund that has supplied payment for so many of their medical needs over the years, they would be truly in despair. That is how the Lord uses his worldwide Family to take care of each other. Thank you, thank you to all of you generous hearts!

They continue to walk forward in steadfast faith, laughing with the children, caring for each other. And we are now praying that we will find out how much the remaining eye surgery will cost, and that there will be funds to pay for it. The Shepherd does provide for his sheep!

The Fellowship of the Living Ring

Her feet stomp right
then to the left,
from front to back
and round again
just like her sister
leading the line
just like her sisters
following behind
arms all swinging
back and forth as if
cutting ripe grain
to bring in harvest,
or now bent low
they pump the air
like shovels plunging
into the earth
cultivating
working hard for
Jesus their Lord
who called them
rescued them
made them a Family
his own beloved
daughters who join
the circle of praise 
the pulsing line
of Life and Truth
that dances joy
in the welcome shade
protective shade
out of the angry
merciless sun
delight in the beat
that glues them tight
in this harmony
of Body life
then the leader hears
the call of the song
to pump it up
surrender all
her feet together
her body leaning
into the ring
she jumps it forward
one two three
a pause to swing
those muscled arms
and pump them into
living praise
and sisters follow
one two three
and back and forth
and one two three
not minding the heat
the babes on their backs
going to sleep
in the soothing pulse
of their mother’s leaps
and the melodies 
of the balaphones
rippling north
and south on the keys
while the calabashes
clack and shush
and the drumbeat
punctuates the air
one calling others
to come and share
the fellowship
of the living ring
the daughters of
the one true King
as the circle grows
a smaller one forms
inside for the youths
who pump it up
and the women watch
and keep the beat
the solid rhythm
of passion shared
as they circle
their loved ones
spinning now
and a little girl
follows mom in the ring
learning the way
to shuffle and pray
in the Family way

The balaphones were rippling wild praise, calling the villagers to come to the service. I sat in the third row, jumping up to give hugs or shake hands, delighted to be back at this other “home church,” one the Lord brought into being by sending us out as his servants. Now I could hardly wait to serve with my sisters. The service started, and as the singer began to call out his song, the congregation responding by singing their repetitive response, Mineta rose from her seat on the first row. Her metal scraper rhythmically accompanying the beat, she began to shuffle quietly forward and then counterclockwise to lead the dance. I jumped from my seat to join her and the other women leaping up to shuffle forward into the widening circle. Listening to the song, they chose the arm movements and joined the response to the call. I felt joy seep into my soul. Here I was again, after so long apart, dancing praise with my sisters in the house of the Lord!

That was last Sunday!

When you live in northern Côte d’Ivoire, dance is a normal part of the worship service in most evangelical churches. Do you find this unsettling? It is worlds apart from what is often experienced in the United States! I admit that I was one of the American missionaries who found joining in the circle dance a wonderful release of the yearning to move that was inside me.

Praising the Lord is meant to include the dance, wherever it is meaningful to the worshippers:

Let them praise his name with dancing! Let them sing praises to him to the accompaniment of the tambourine and harp! (Ps. 149:3 NET)

Praise him with the tambourine and with dancing! Praise him with stringed instruments and the flute! (Ps. 150:4 NET)

Another element in this form of worshipful dance is the expression of community. The dancers are following each other, blending into the whole, each one free to interpret the song with their arms or full-body movements as long as it does not disrupt the circle. Children are welcomed in. Young men and women sometimes create a smaller circle inside in order to put more energy into their joyful dance.  

If the song is praise, some will lift their hands and faces upward. When there is an exhortation to serve, they may bend over and swing their arms as though threshing the grain, or join their hands and pump them as though pounding in a mortar. (You can watch a snippet of this dance here: Serve the Lord with all your heart video https://youtu.be/rZsQtaJJg7Q  and the vigorous last measures here: Serve the Lord, dance ends with children https://youtu.be/mIkpLXHNm6o )

Those elements are all particularly aligned with dancing to the music of balaphones, long instruments like xylophones made of wood with gourds serving as the resonance chambers—and the scale is pentatonic, five notes per measure. That is what has been retained in many spirituals and gospel music in the U.S.

The Nyarafolo Group has been meeting in the courtyard behind the house where we used to live for decades, in Ferkessédougou. We joined them on Sunday afternoons; this was the one place in the town where they could pray, sing and study the Word in their own language, until just this past year! They began their music ministry with balaphones, but when the balaphones became worn out they could not afford to repair them. So their leader, Moïse, brought in the “pire” (pronounced pray), which are two drums traditionally used to incite energetic work when young men were brought together to prepare a field for farming. Now this group has become well known for saving the musical culture as well as for making a new genre of believers’ songs!  They were even invited to sing at a concert sponsored by “Afrik Arts Culture” in a nearby big city earlier this month. The bass and the tenor drums answer each other, and the dance follows along. This time it is done in rows with different foot movements, but the arm motions are much like the onese in the dance to the balaphone. (You can watch a song and dance from this past week here: Let your light be seen (shine),with pire drums  https://youtu.be/T7Z6zRmsHOI )

Once again, this is all about serving the Lord with songs that tell his stories, that evoke jubilation and praise, or that even become personal testimonies.

I’ve learned so much from these brothers and sisters about whole-body worship! It makes it difficult for me to stand completely still in the U.S. churches, but I work at adapting. And I know not everyone experiences that same call to worship or to joining the Body through dance. It may even just be distracting to many who have not experienced it before. We are different personalities with different responses to music—that has become an issue in many churches as generations change in the congregation, or diverse cultures express longing for what speaks to them.

It seems evident to me that the Lord understands and loves diversity. He made all those kinds of flowers and trees and birds and animals and people! What matters is using what he has given us to honor him: our bodies, our voices, our instruments, and most importantly, our hearts. We must be focused on him as we sit quietly and sing, or as we join the circle with humility and love. When the Body of our Lord joins together to praise him, he is delighted.

24 Your procession, God, has come into view, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary. 25 In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the young women playing the timbrels. 26 Praise God in the great congregation; praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.  (Ps. 68:1 NIV)

I have three more Sundays to enjoy Nyarafolo worship to the fullest! May you worship the Lord with all your heart and soul too, wherever you are!

Nomad

I am only, always
just a resident alien
on a yoyo between worlds,
with a foreign address,
borrowed rooms,
and a “home” 
where I never live.
At least not yet.
Someday.

Meanwhile everything
is temporary.
A modern nomad,
I have no herds,
just other moveable goods:
my books, my music,
practical clothes,
and indications 
of my nesting instinct
like candles, chocolate,
the essential coffeepot,
and photos.

Not even family
stays intact:
I trail children 
in my wake,
some here, some there;
siblings halfway
around the world,
parents all back 
where we come from.
Friends are lost to distance
or to silence.

Memories of
discarded nests
of back and forth
and torturous goodbyes
move in succession
through my thoughts.
Airports have sanded
off my heart
until it’s raw.
Togetherness and roots
are the  elusive stuff 
of dreams.

Just call me Sarah,
partnered with my Abe,
inevitably
packing up
and moving on,
risking everything
on promises
and for the sake
of the Voice.

We do have resting places;
we’ve left our
markers there,
something permanent
in all the transience.
They stand as 
firm reminders 
of epiphanies.
Whenever we can circle back
in thought or fact,
we do.  

And there,
we find that gratitude
and confidence renewed
give hope a boost,
and keep us headed
in our true direction:
a country where
we’ll turn in suitcases
for all the comforts 
of Home.

Twenty years ago I wrote that poem about our nomadic lifestyle, on mission, going where the Lord told us to go. We had recently been evacuated from civil war in Côte d’Ivoire and were in temporary housing in the U.S., uncertain about what moves the future might have for us. Three years later we were able to return to our work in that West African country. It was indeed our other home, but it felt very different: the country was divided, and that northern section where we worked was under rebel control. Every moment was underlined with uncertainty. Once again, the Lord brought us all through it, the country was reunited and we continued our ministry there until retirement in 2019.

But the moves were not over yet. We now had roots in Detroit (where we still live), and it did feel like home. Nevertheless both Glenn and I are still associated with ongoing projects in Ferke, our other “home,” and every year one or both of us have gone back for short visits to contribute to their progress.

That’s where we are right now, again! On January 13th we flew out of Detroit, and by late afternoon on the 16th we arrived in Ferke. We are in a different house than the one we lived in most of those previous decades, but we did live there once before for one year while another family needed our space in town. Here, we are out at the Baptist Hospital station where I grew up, and where we lived during our first term back as a family. It is no wonder that every time I go from one room to another, or out and about, memories come sliding into internal video play. Right now, I am “circling back” into those epiphanies.

So I am going to take a break from digging into the Sermon on the Mount in order to offer you an opportunity to accompany me on this particular journey. Some of you have had to uproot yourselves and move as well, and you can empathize with the way it is indeed possible to be deeply rooted in drastically different places on this wide earth.

Many characters in the Bible had those kinds of lives too. I think right away of Abraham and Sarah and their family, of Moses, Joshua, Ruth, and others. Each one had to trust their Lord God YHWH to accompany them. Jesus lived that way as well, from Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth to travels without a permanent home all over Israel and in Samaria. To begin with, he had left his forever-home in heaven to become a human being in order to rescue us from all our wrong choices, all our wandering down the wrong paths. He truly understands what it means to be a traveler—in my imagery, a nomad.

We had first arrived here in Ferke in 1979, and retired forty years later. You can imagine the wealth of adventures we had during those years, hard stuff and wonderful stuff. Going back to the States to retire put us on a new path of learning the culture around us in Detroit and following the Lord’s guidance in our use of time. Meanwhile, we’ve had the benefits of the technological revolution that have allowed us to keep connected to many of our dear African friends. And we’ve been back and forth, as I mentioned.

So here we are again. Where are you? Are you in the place you’ve called home for a while? Or is it a new place? Wherever you are, the Lord YHWH is with you. Psalm 139 has been a theme of my life ever since my prayer partner at Wheaton College (both of us MSU graduates) underlined it for me. Some people I’ve shared it with since have found it scary, especially the part that has God basically looking over your shoulder and knowing everything about you. I have found it reassuring. No matter where I am, as his child I am with him, and he is with me—nothing can be more essential to peace:

You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. (Ps. 139:1-10 NIV)

I am now back on the far side of the sea, since Detroit is now “home.” But this is still “home” in my heart as well. We had long visits with 10 people yesterday and this morning, the flow to our house a reminder of close relationships formed through the years. There are more visits that we will also be making. The deep cultural value of community is a treasure here. And it is a privilege to see the fruit of hard work, a harvest we never would have expected during the early years. People are excited that they have the New Testament and Pentateuch and Psalms in their mother tongue. More and more Nyarafolos are becoming fluent readers, even those who never went to school at all, due to their hunger for the Word. Friends who have battled serious physical distress are grateful to God and to all who helped them, sharing their stories of healing and progress forward.

The little things matter too, reminding me that the Creator has put delights here that trigger joy: bulbuls singing in the dawn light, tiny baby mangoes on certain trees and fingers of pink-beige blossoms on others, a white butterfly swooping by, a stately baobab standing guard beyond a village, the long fronds of a banana tree waving in the wind outside my window. They are markers of this place—along with the dust blown in by the harmattan wind from the Sahara and the teeny ants craving water and clustering around leaky faucets.

Best of all are the memories of God’s Presence. He protected us when in the war zone, then in rebel territory with no rule of law. He opened our “home” village of Tiepogovogo to us back in those early days, having already put hunger for Jesus in the hearts of two young men there by appearing to one of them. Now there are over 100 believers meeting there, coming from surrounding villages as well. He brought us through bouts with serious diseases. He gave us three children (two of them born here) to raise in this other world and provided the right educational opportunities for them. He gave us Family here, a panorama of sons and daughters and grandkids we could never have imagined. He had a purpose in making us and then sending us here, very vague to us at first; he opened up new paths along the way:

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Ps. 139:13-16 NIV)

Each of us has a unique story. Those of us who have followed the Lord’s leading can look back and see his hand on our lives, wherever he has placed us. I just want to obey the Father and share some of what he has done for me and through me and Glenn together—all credit going to Abba—so that it might encourage the faith of any who might need that:

We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done. (Ps. 78:4b NIV)

Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. (Ps. 105:1 NLT)

Where are you now? Where have you been? To whom can you share what the Lord has done, for others and for you? Wherever we are, our good, gentle, gracious God is with us, giving us protection and provision and purpose. So let’s move forward with him!

This is my command — be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Jos. 1:9 NLT)

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18-20 NLT)

When we follow Jesus, we know where the Road we walk with him will end up: at our forever home. We will be totally at home at last, a place where no roots will be wrenched out, secure in a completely good world filled with joys we cannot even imagine from down here. I’m sure we will see how we have been formed into who he had in mind from the beginning, using all of those changes and moves, enriching us with more understanding of him and of the world. Nomads that we’ve been, we will join the crowd of travelers (like Abraham and Sarah) who have seen God at work. Just read Hebrews 11!