rogerthoman’s posterous

While we were being prayed over by a group of friends just prior to leaving home, one brother encouraged us in his prayer to "not hold back."  His prayer/encouragement went something like this: "You will be tempted to be timid at some point about the message that God has given you, to hold back, to be less bold about it.  God wants to encourage you to step fully into the word He gives you at that time and not to hold back."

We are still adjusting to the change in time and taking a couple of days to re-group before we begin our schedule of meetings and gatherings.  Nevertheless, I keep reflecting on this word and on how easy it is to "hold back."

On the one hand, my heart is already so stirred for the people of Kenya and for those from the Congo who will be coming to be with us.  I know that these are brothers and sisters who have the potential of producing so much fruit in the needy countries that they live and work in.  I also know that, like so many from home, they are bound up by religious ways of thinking: external church rules, superstitious approaches to the Christian life, and a legalistic view of Scripture.  I have such a longing to see them step into the passion of knowing and walking with the living Jesus, relating to Him daily in a life-giving, heart-stirring, personal-resting kind of way.  Jesus wants to walk with His people. converse with His people, love with us people, empower His people, provide for His people, and be such an intimate, real, personal part of our lives that we are stunned, satisfied, fulfilled, and content in anything or everything that is thrown at us just because we are just with Him.  He so did not come to give us the rules of life, rather a relationship to be immersed in.  He is our friend, father (in every good sense), beloved, lover, keeper, confidant, comforter, and life-partner.  When we are His fully,  then the fruit we produce and reproduce is also full of life.  We function and flow out of his life-creating authority and power.  This is my heart for the leaders we will work with in Kenya and the Congo.  The world does not need more dead religion.  It does need the living presence of Jesus.

That sounds so good, doesn't it?

"Don't hold back."  "Step fully into the message that God has given you."

Ah, but that is where the rub is!

There are many reasons to "hold back."  I am sure you know exactly what I am talking about.  I can sense all of these reasons to hold back stirring in me:

• Inadequacy.  After all, do I really, fully exemplify the message that is stirring in me?  Don't I need to be walking it out perfectly before I can share with others what is in my heart?
• Incompetency.  Even though I have done this type of ministry for years, the voice comes up: "You don't have what it takes."
  
• Fear of risk: If I really press into the message that I sense God has given, will it offend?  Will it put off?  Will people be displeased?  Will the message be rejected?
  

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Updates from our friends and partners in Madagascar continue to be disturbing:

"Since our last message, the situation in Madagascar has deteriorated to the extent that the international community is seriously worried... The political instability is putting everyone under enormous stress… nerves are jangled...  Distribution of food has been hugely reduced; basic foodstuffs are difficult to find and are expensive; the country is on a go-slow and the capital (4 million inhabitants) has demonstrations on a daily basis.

"Worse still, we have 2 governments: the one official, and the other, instated by the insurgent mayor."

"We are truly sad about the goings on in the country, but we have peace and are trying to get our friends to understand that our mission is to proclaim the Gospel that changes lives and on a larger scale, the nation. We’re keeping our focus!"

"In one of the villages, a woman had organized a traditional ceremony called “tromba”, which is very common in the region. It involves calling up spirits to come into her. It lasts the whole night and is accompanied by heavy drinking of an 80% alcoholic beverage made from sugar cane and offerings made to the spirits. On top of their usual 3 hours of daily intercession, the group prayed for the whole night. The tromba didn’t work, the spirits did not manifest themselves (apparently this never happens, from what we have heard)… the person concerned has decided to give it all up and is searching at the moment to find out who Jesus is."

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Thirty thousand feet in the air and I find myself preparing for the inevitable mini-culture shock that is coming.  Meanwhile, Brooks is engaged with her airplane neighbor in a conversation about dogs.  Since I am not know for my adoration of pets, I checked out of their conversation about 45 minutes ago.

Many newspapers are open around me with headline after headline about economic woes here at home.  This is what has caught my attention and has propelled me to begin reflecting on the living situations we will soon be encountering in the African culture:  Day-to-day survival is the norm.  Having enough food to eat for the family is not expected.  Shoes for the children so that they can attend school is a significant luxury.  I know it's not fair to suggest that we have no reason to worry or be concerned about our finances when compared to other parts of the world.  But it does re-frame my own worries about "the future" when I am around people who are just thankful to have a dinner to serve their children tonight.

I am also reminded that, despite these hardships, I will be around people of great faith.  Or, perhaps it is partly because of these hardships.  They take seriously Jesus' words to "seek the kingdom of God as a first priority and all of these things [material needs] will be cared for."  Inevitably I see this in action when I am around believers in Africa.  They may not know where the next meal is coming from, but it does not diminish their pursuit of God and his purposes for their lives.  They will reach out, disciple, care for others, and even invite neighbors to come over and share in the one meal they have scraped together.  In the midst of a challenging lifestyle they often live out their faith in such tangible ways.  They believe that, in doing so, Jesus will care for them for the day.

I cannot help but wonder if our own financial challenges at home won't cause us to re-look at passages such as the one just mentioned and really consider seriously what it might mean to seek the kingdom as a priority.  Perhaps we too will learn that our hope is not in our government's plan or our company's fate.  Perhaps we too will discover a kingdom way to walk out finances that will stand out in contrast to those around us.

Ah well.  While I simply ponder these things Brooks, in her typical, friend-making fashion, has moved the conversation from pets to this woman's recent loss of her father.  Brooks has already become this woman's confidant and will undoubtedly be praying with her before the flight is over.  She is kingdom-advancing while I am merely musing.

We each have our part to play!

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Please be forewarned.  This is a “personal” travel journal.  You may find it bloated, uninteresting, and entirely disorganized!

You WILL receive the "good stuff" by occasional email that will contain edited stories and thoughts WITHOUT subscribing to this blog.  So DON'T worry about missing something if you unsubscribe from this one.

THIS travel journal is a place where we will make notes, share stories, dump, process feelings, and otherwise vent whatever grabs us while we are on the road without filters.  We do NOT intend to try to craft these posts into a neat package designed to impress, wow, or even adequately inform.
 
We will write a lot if the muse stirs us, and only a little if not.  We will be writing like we are sharing with friends back home or writing in our own journals.
 
SO, if this particular blog is not what you had in mind, do feel free to unsubscribe any time.  Really!  Even now!

You have now been cautioned…

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Please be forewarned.  This is a “personal” travel journal.  You may find it bloated, uninteresting, and entirely disorganized!

You WILL receive the "good stuff" by occasional email that will contain edited stories and thoughts WITHOUT subscribing to this blog.  So DON'T worry about missing something if you unsubscribe from this one.

THIS travel journal is a place where we will make notes, share stories, dump, process feelings, and otherwise vent whatever grabs us while we are on the road without filters.  We do NOT intend to try to craft these posts into a neat package designed to impress, wow, or even adequately inform.
 
We will write a lot if the muse stirs us, and only a little if not.  We will be writing like we are sharing with friends back home or writing in our own journals.
 
SO, if this particular blog is not what you had in mind, do feel free to unsubscribe any time.  Really!  Even now!

You have now been cautioned…

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