A country kid greets me as I walk home from the school in the morning. Only some kids can afford to go to school. Everyone has to pay here. These kids were not in school and so......
I am sitting in my room on my makeshift couch, which is a bed against the wall with another foam mattress behind it covered by a beautiful African material, swatting at the bugs who want to live on my laptop screen because they are drawn to the LIGHT!!! And I am listening to some Kenyan worship music from the house next door. There are two guys, missionaries from Kenya, who live next to me. There are actually African missionaries from Kenya and Uganda in Sudan. It’s awesome. And so I get to hear, and learn if I want to; Swahili from Kenya plus their local dialect, something from Uganda, and Arabic and Bari from Sudan. Right now I am concentrating on Arabic.
Kony kidnaps young boys and girls and through his leaders has them kill and torture and rape and mutilate people for no reason, not that there would be any reason for this, and he leads by intense fear of death reprisals if they don’t do what he wants them to do. He does not know the Lord at all. The LRA is growing smaller as the Congolese and Ugandan and Sudanese armies hunt for them and arrest or kill them. Right now as I type this, there was a sighting of foot soldiers of the LRA about 20 miles from here. And so, when I viewed the thick forests below me, I thought of these men and boys and women and girls who need Jesus so much more than we could know.
Here’s a thought. Faith is agreement. If you have faith in something or even someone, you must be in agreement with the outcome of it in order to have the faith in the first place. Yes? And love, it is understanding and not so much about faith. You don’t have to agree with someone to love them. But in order to have faith in a thing you have to agree with it.
Jesus said to Peter, “Satan, get thee behind Me for you have no part in Me!” He said this directly to Peter after Jesus told Peter that He must die. It was like a slap in the face to Peter when he was rebuked in this way. Jesus did not agree with Peter yet He loved him so much. Love, is understanding, not agreement. Jesus told the crowd of disciples, “Eat My flesh and drink My blood.” The disciples who stayed didn’t necessarily agree with Jesus, they didn’t even understand what He was talking about, but they loved Him and so they stayed. They had nowhere else to go. Their faith in what He was doing took over and they came into agreement with Him.
Sometimes Jesus will offend our minds to see who will stick around. Has my mind been offended lately? Sunday I went out to the Children’s Center to spend the day. A little girl about 12 months old came up to me and wanted to be held. Her pants were soiled and it was still early. The babies here don’t wear diapers and so…. It would be hours before I could get back to the compound where I live and change my clothes. Will I let love offend my mind? I picked her up and I held her. I would wash later. I find myself doing this on a routine basis these days, picking up soiled kids, and not being offended anymore.
When we say, “Here I am, Lord send me, all of my life I make an offering” do we really mean “all”? Love doesn’t agree, it understands. How many times oh Lord have I walked past a young person who offended me because they were too “soiled” to touch, because the words of their mouth offended me or the music they listen to offends me? God, forgive me. Offend my mind daily and show me a new way to see, a new way to love. Help me to “want to” embrace those who just need someone to pick them up, to understand them.
I learn the most amazing things about love by watching the young people of this culture. Sudan has not known peace in 50 years. Just since 2006 are they even tasting a little of it, and there is still so much corruption. These kids have grown up running from tanks and bombs and land mines. They have been afraid to sleep at night for fear they wouldn’t wake up. They have been afraid to walk to school for fear they would never see their parents alive again. They have been afraid to walk on the smaller trails for fear they would be abducted or killed by the LRA. They have been afraid of coming home only to find their family dead and mutilated. They have been afraid to be at a church service because this is the first place the LRA will go. Many of these children have only known violence. Children are strapped to the back of a mother as the father machete’s her to death. Other children are beat daily because their parents have never known anything but violence. This is a country that has grown up in fear. And yet…….
Sunday, after church, at the Children’s Center there were five teenage girls visiting together. Three were three girls and two were their friends who lived in the village. They were all around 15 years old. The girls brought out chairs for their two friends to sit on. They brought out a nice small table to set the tea and bread on that they offered to their friends. After a bit the girls then went and brought a plate of lunch to their friends, offering it to them on their knees with their heads bowed in respect. Yes they really presented it on their knees in the dirt because I was there and I noticed the dirt on their knees as they got up. They brought a pitcher of water to rinse the hands of their friends before the meal and watched their friends eat before they even got their own lunch. They waited until their friends were done and had had plenty before they got their own. This is the culture of Sudan! This is the culture where the children grew up in total violence.
When I watch this display of true humility, I see the woman with the alabaster jar at the feet of Jesus and Him telling the owner of the house, “You didn’t wash my feet or my hands when I came in like she has done. You didn’t offer me a kiss when I arrived like she did.” These children who have been so abused by their own parents and other people, just like Mary, they love so deeply and honor others above themselves. I am so humbled by them, so humbled. Love understands. Lord offend my mind again today!
Luke 7:44-45 Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss, but she from the moment I came in has not ceased to kiss My feet.
People were offended.
I watched as young children were throwing rocks up into a very tall mango tree trying to knock down some mangos that were about 40 feet up. Earlier that day they were practically fighting over these small golf ball size mangos that weren’t even ripe. They weren’t having any luck and so I joined in the effort and threw sticks and rocks and nothing was coming down. We saw a single mango hanging low enough to almost reach with a long bamboo pole we had but just out of reach, until I climbed onto a jagged tree stump and was able to knock it down.
They then picked it up and offered it to me, the only mango. I could not take it. I wanted them to have it. They refused and kept holding it out to me like an offering. I was the guest to this country and deserved the mango, even though I was white and rich in their eyes and could easily purchase 50 mangos. I took two bites and insisted I was full. They finally accepted it and shared it amongst themselves. Then some of the kids were able to climb the tree and brought down about ten nice mangos, although still small. They came running up to me and gave me the largest one. This has been the Sudanese culture I have been experiencing. This is love, ALWAYS giving their best to another before taking for themselves.
Will I give my biggest mango if given the opportunity? Or will I pick out a nice one, reserving the best for myself? God, I want to give my biggest and best mango, even giving it to someone who can easily purchase a truck full. God I want to kneel in the dirt and give an offering of love and honor to another regardless of who they are and how well I know them. I want to wash Your feet and kiss Your cheek. What I do for the least of these I do for You.
Mathew 25:40 And the King will reply to them, Truly I tell you, in so far as you did it for one of the least of these, you did it for Me.
Today was a hard day for me, one of the very few since I’ve been in Africa. After work I walked the garden on our property, and as I looked up at the stars in the velvet sky I lifted my hands to heaven and listened to my “calling” song that has been mine since last year and I sang it with my heart in my hands and I was reminded yet again as to why I am here. The song? The Motions. Every word is powerful and evokes such emotion in my spirit. It is my calling song from the Lord, a few of the lines are,
“This might hurt, it’s not safe but I know that I’ve gotta make a change. I don’t care if I break, at least I’ll be feeling something.
No regrets, not this time, I’m gonna let my heart defeat my mind.
I don’t wanna go through the motions, I don’t wanna spend one more day without Your all consuming passion inside of me.
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking, what if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions.
Have I given everything? Am I giving everything? Will I give my small trials to God? Not nearly as much as I want to. I know that when I truly give myself, my heart and my mind, the only things that God really asks of me, I will realize what “everything” means. It means the way I think, the way I act and react, the way I honor others, how I love. Will it cost me anything to give Him everything? All it will cost me is my mind and my heart, all of it.
Once we give God our minds then He has access to our hearts, without reserve, the “Oh yes Lord, anything You want Lord, because I love You Lord, all because I love You!” then our spirits will explode with such passion that nothing we encounter can stop this flow. All boundaries and borders that we have set with our minds will disappear. Walls will come down. Doors will blow wide open. And nothing will stop the tempest of His love for you, a mighty rushing wind unleashed upon us.
There’s a knot in me that gets stuck in my throat so many times and I try and push it down, yet all I want to do is release this cry from my very mouth, this cry to live in the freedom of His love! I dam it up thinking that the breaking will come so fast and so forcefully that I won’t recover quickly, only because of the very power and force of His love for me, because oh I have so much to do today and what will people think because I am always broken for the broken and wounded for the wounded? My mind gets in the way.
Within you resides the key of David. The doors you have opened God, no man can shut! You have unlocked me! You have thrown open wide the doors to my very heart. I cry out, “Abba Father! Abba Father!” and I cry, “Come in, come in!” for once again, He has access to my very heart because it has finally defeated my mind. Common sense has lost again. I am free for the SON has set me free!
And I am free to sit in the dirt holding a naked child who has no clothes and feel heaven come down. I am free to walk the village paths lifting filthy little children into my arms and hearing their laugh, in spite of their tragic lives, and feel the heartbeat of the Father. I am free to sit at the village well and pray over the baby with malaria and worms and scabies and feel the hand of the Savior. I am free to receive a warm hug and kiss from a local woman who sweeps the dirt floor of her mud hut so that I can come in and have tea with her and I feel the peace of the Holy Spirit. I am free to learn from a child. Free to be a child. Free to learn how to love from the least loved, the people of Sudan. I am free to love my Abba radically and fully abandoned to the passion that has swept my very soul for HIM because I see how He loves!
Relationships are what matters here over everything else. You cannot do business here without forming relationships first. You cannot just walk down the road and do your own thing. People want to know you. They really are interested in hearing what you have to say, not being distracted by their lives, however hard they may be. Relationships are their very lives. It is so very nice.
Jesus, You are all about relationship. Imagine that……. He rarely got time alone.
Journey into Sudan
The thing that I have learned this summer, more than anything, is to walk with God closely each day. To walk every single day with God, never assuming that I know what His plan for me for tomorrow is. I have learned to say to God every single day, “Whatever Your plan is for me today I will not question it even if it doesn’t make sense. I will go where You say go.” This is the day the Lord has made specifically for me. Each of us has our own day, though we all share the same day all across the earth. In Psalm 32:8 God says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” And so, what I thought I would be doing in Sudan it looks very different. It is so much more. And that is how God is! If He would have told me three months ago what I would be doing in this next season, I probably would have run. His eye is surely upon me!
I have shared this with some of my friends and family and so this is the shortened version, just to let you know where I will be for the next year at least. While I was in Sudan I was able to fellowship with some people from Samaritan’s Purse Ministry, directed and founded by Franklin Graham. They have a base right there in Yei, Sudan, only ten minutes from the Iris base. Through the course of events I was offered the position of Field Accountant for South Sudan. I never pursued this position, even after it was offered to me. It pursued me. At every turn, every turn, I specifically asked God to put the brakes on if this was not from Him. I felt like Joseph when Pharoah handed him his ring and said, “Take care of all the stuff.” Samaritan’s Purse is a wonderful ministry who does so many things to rebuild countries and communities and lives.
I am undone by the goodness of God in my life. I have walked in pure faith all summer, never once doubting, that God would put me in a broad place and my tent stakes would be firmly planted before years end. Every day has been a faith walk and every day I remain in the rest of God, never once worrying where I will go or what I will do. I truly have seen the testimony of Abraham in my own life. Leave your family and your home and I will show you the place you are to go. God didn’t show Abraham until it was time to go to the next place and as he went God showed him. That is exactly how He has shown me. I have never felt so free in all my life, not knowing what is next but knowing my God! I just laugh with the joy of it.
And so I am in Uganda, waiting to go to Sudan on Saturday and am expecting great things. I have already asked God to give me a Muslim language coach because I want to just be a blessing to that person, showing them the love of Jesus just by my actions. Just having Christ in me being the witness to them. I want to watch Jesus reveal Himself in such a profound way that an entire community would be brought into the light of His love!
Today I went shopping and brought back soccer balls and jump ropes and tennis balls and puzzles and yogurt and bananas and baby clothes. I brought a pile of fun which I purchased with the seed you have sown. Your seed has brought smiles to many children here at Iris. There are 350 of them, children, and they are so loved. When I get settled in Sudan I plan on purchasing clothes and shoes for the children at the Iris base there. They too will be overjoyed I am sure. I am so excited about seeing them again! They too are so loved!
I have been thinking a lot about “the call”. I am reminded of Samuel who was called by God at a very young age. The first couple of times that Samuel heard the voice of God he went to his pastor (Eli) and asked, “Did you call me?” The third time Samuel answered God and did not go to his pastor. When God calls you, He will keep calling until you answer. Samuel did the right thing and checked with his pastor (Eli) yet he did not go until he answered God himself. Eli told Samuel the next time he heard God to say, “Here I am God, speak.” I love that. Samuel went because God said go, not because his pastor said go or because his mentor said go or because his mother said go. All of these people knew that one day he would go, but he had to respond to the Lord only. Listen to the voices of wisdom and counsel but do not respond except to the voice of God.
This got me to meditating upon Jeremiah 20:9 “If I say, I will not make mention of the Lord or speak anymore in His Name, in my mind and heart it is as if there were a burning fire shut up in my bones. And I am weary of enduring and holding it in. I cannot contain it any longer.”
When the Lord calls you He puts a fire in you. It cleanses you and burns off every desire that is not of Him. His fire will burn so hot inside of you that you cannot contain it. Once He puts that fire in you, you cannot control it. It controls you! It is a fire pent up in your bones. Has God put a fire in your bones for something He has called you to? Are you controlling it or is it controlling you? What will you let God burn? We are all called and we are all given fire in measure, fire for the assignment ahead. When we answer His call, this is fuel to the fire. Obedience is the fuel. It makes the fire burn hotter. And so I think it is right to say that when we don’t answer His call we will be weary of holding it in, it will either burn us out or we will burn with the passion of releasing it into the call.
Psalm 39:3 “My heart was hot within me. While I was musing, the fire burned.”
This morning I was undone with the thought that I cause God to be more undone and wrecked by my love than I am by His because He loves me more. I asked Him, why do You love me so? Why do I ravish Your heart so? He said so many things to my heart but one thing amazed me. He asked me why I thought He always talked to me in a still small voice. Why doesn’t He speak to me audibly where all can hear? This still small voice is the voice of intimacy. Secrets are shared in a whisper. It is an intimate communication between two. It is a place His whisper goes that no one else can go, deep inside. His voice for me is especially for me. His voice for you is especially for you. Shut down the noise of the world and be still and listen to God’s intimate whisper to you. He will tell you secrets about the love He has for you and you alone!I have just returned from the most amazing adventure of my entire lifetime. I literally felt like I had stepped into the pages of National Geographic magazine. South Sudan has only one paved road in the entire nation, and that is in the city of Juba, which is where we first headed. The city population is close to one million and most of them, probably 95 % live in huts with metal roofing. Most have no plumbing or electricity. We drove on a dirt road for seven solid hours which was pitted every mile of the way with bumps and ruts and rain potholes. It took us exactly three hours to drive 58 miles and I think Juba was over 100 miles away. So we finally get to Juba and we go to a neighborhood where the Mundari Tribe lives, well some of them.
The Mundari Tribe is unique in that they are cattle herders. They own thousands of head of cattle, 99 % of the cattle are white, and they do not eat them or sell them. The cattle’s sole purpose is to show the Tribe’s wealth. They collect cattle like we collect cars and houses and stocks. They only cook one for very special occasions or pay a bride price in marriage or use them for sacrifice to their gods. The Mundari are the second tallest people in Sudan, the Dinka’s being the tallest. And so we are greeted by men and women who are on the average six feet or taller, most are at 6’5” and taller. They also have these faint scars on their faces where they are marked at a very young age by cutting designs into their skin and as they grow older, they recut to make sure the scars remain. This marks them as Mundari. It actually looks pretty cool.
Now, back to the cattle. When we went into the Tribe’s territory 100 miles north, we passed many cattle camps. Young boys are sent here to work and live in the camps. They do not wear clothes. Even the grown men many times do not wear clothes because it is a very dirty job. They live and sit and sleep with the cattle. They walk the herd everywhere they go and these humongous cattle actually “mind” the humans. These cattle are definitely bigger than our Texas longhorns and their horns are bigger.
And so we show up in this village and all these boys come to see who we are and girls too and the boys are naked. And when we had church they came naked. Needless to say that took a little getting used to. The men did wear clothes I am grateful to say! The young men of marriageable age put a thin covering or mask of tan colored dirt on their face to “attract” the women. I am telling you, I felt like I was in a National Geographic documentary. I never once felt any fear. It is amazing how much peace you have when you know you are going with God. Because if I didn’t go with God and these almost seven foot tall men with painted and cut faces and wearing only a toga type throw with one side totally open and exposing their body, came up to me I would have been extremely scared. They came and extended their hands in greeting and were so nice.
After telling the gospel of Jesus and giving testimonies of His healing power we prayed for the sick and demon possessed. A small boy was healed of a deaf mute spirit and was set free to hear and speak! Two babies were instantly set free from burning fevers. Some teenagers came forward with headaches and were instantly set free. There were also some salvations. The people who came were small in number, maybe only 40 at most, yet God did so much there. It was nightfall by then and too dark to do anymore and so we ended. We then pitched our tents in the church which was open on all sides but one and was dirt floor and it had been raining all day so was very wet outside. By the way, this village has had no rain in three seasons of planting and it rained all day the day we were there! As we were interceding earlier I felt the Lord say that it was a prophetic sign that He has come to cleanse the land and cleanse the people. Also, while we were interceding, goats and sheep were coming into the church to get out of the rain. And my friend had heard from the Lord earlier in the day that these people had fallen asleep, that at one time they had known about God and had even sought after Him but had since fallen asleep.
As we started singing during our intercession I was led to Psalm 68 and was amazed to see that it confirmed the rain, the praise, the sheep finding a dwelling place, the people being weary… We were so overjoyed that He confirmed His Word to us and we knew He would show up in power that night! When we left the next morning, we stopped at a cattle camp on the way out and said goodbye to the men there and the boys and blessed them. They were very happy we stopped. On the way down the road we had to part the sea o thousands of cattle that were being herded south in the middle of the road. What an amazing journey we had. Wow!
Today we visited the Yei, Sudan prison and there were about 130 men at the service. Some were shackled at the ankles and wrists and they were allowed to attend, We sat under a mango tree along a fence which was right next to a neighborhood dirt road and kids and grandpa’s and random people also gathered along the fenceline to see what we were about. We preached a powerful message of the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of Light and the love of the Father. After the powerful preaching we told them that today is decision time. Tomorrow could be either kingdom in eternity and which will they choose. Ninety percent raised their hands and received Jesus! It was amazing.
All that came forward and knelt down for prayer were healed. Jesus had so touched their hearts that they were hungry to know His love. These men have been thru so much rejection as young boys. Almost every single man said he needed healing for pain all over his body. We knew right away that they were carrying years of heavy burdens and yokes. Today these were broken and cast upon the Lord.
Last night I gave every kid and “mama” at the Base a glow bracelet and we danced and worshiped for almost two solid hours. They threw them in the air, they laughed, they sang. They had never seen glow bracelets and were so amazed. I looked out my tent window this morning and saw almost all of them waving them and trying to get them “started” again. It was so much fun and they are so cute. God is healing this land and these people as the harvesters come. I am drawn to these people. When I pray for them I literally weep for them. I have never wept so much for a people. They are so humble and beautiful and God loves them so much.
The impression I will leave Sudan with is the hugeness of their servant hearts. Every single meal was brought to us on a tray and chairs were placed under a tree and water was brought to wash our hands. The girls would even pray over our food on their knees! I am humbled and touched to the core by their servant hearts. In everything they did, this character NEVER changed. The young boys of eight years or so washed the babies every night and cared for them while the mamas took care of other chores. The girls do the laundry and bring the food to feed them and scoop food with their fingers to feed the little ones. I pray fervently that I carry this spirit of humility and servanthood away with me more than any other thing. I have learned much from these children about the Kingdom of God. We have two more days here and I will spend them with the children I am sure. I want to see more of God and taste more of God and touch more of God. And I know I will when I dwell with the children of Iris, Sudan.
Many people look at the ministry of others and think, wow I would love to have that anointing or be able to reach people like that person. Once something has already been done, there is something in you that says, I can have that too because it’s already been done. My thought is this, do I really want to do something that has already been done? Does that take faith, the evidence of things seen? Maybe I am limiting God. I have to believe that He wants to do a new thing and not just keep doing the same old thing. What does it mean to go from glory to glory?
Have you ever thought about how God stopped what He was doing and He watched Abraham fix Him a meal? Here is God sitting under a shade tree just taking pleasure in Abraham cooking this meal. In those days it took 4 hours to slaughter the lamb, skin it, roast it, make the bread, all the preparation of making a meal. When we go into the bush to minister here in Africa, it’s the same thing. It takes about 4 hours to slaughter the goat and to cook it and the rice. And God, who has all this universe stuff to do, well He stops what He is doing, steps into time where man operates out of, and just takes pure pleasure in watching Abraham. He knew that He had to do this in order to make friends with Abraham, He had to spend time with him. God hasn’t changed. He still loves to watch us and spend time with us. Next time you cook a meal, invite Him to stay.
God’s love is all consuming and passionate. He will not tolerate another looking at us as He does. He is a jealous God. That’s why He keeps us hidden in Him. It is there that the enemy cannot see us. When God reveals His glory, He reveals us. When we let the King of Glory come in……… Wow!! Do you realize that God kissed Enoch so hard because they were so close that God just swallowed him up? Imagine that…. God kisses Enoch and just swallows him up. He couldn’t help Himself. Jesus said, “All who are thirsty, come and drink of Me.” If we drink of Jesus then He drinks of us. We are in communion. It’s a relationship. As we drink Him He says, “Wait a minute, I want to drink you too!” He swallows us up in that kiss, in that drink.
Heidi had twenty pastors in her office yesterday from all over Mozambique. They all told her the same thing. The people are hungry for Jesus. The multitudes are hungry for Jesus. There is exponential increase right now, there has been. Are we willing to face Hell with eyes wide open, to even suffer if need be, to feed the multitudes. We must drink of the Holy Spirit and eat of Jesus every single day in order to feed the multitudes. The world is being shaken right now, shaken up. This is the church’s greatest hour to share what we have with the hungry. What are we willing to give? Does it hurt to give, do we even feel the pinch? John 6:5 “Where shall we buy enough for the people to eat? This is all we have.” All you need is a boy’s lunch. God is not asking you what do you have? God is asking you for all that you have.
Heidi told us about a village not far from here which has still resisted the gospel. They have a very small church there but the pastor’s lives are always being threatened and they are being cursed by the local witchdoctors. Two pastors have been so frightened and their families attacked so much that they have quit. This village attacked Heidi and her team when they went in two years ago to preach the gospel. Heidi was actually injured by a rock that was thrown at her on the stage. They threw rocks at everyone. They had to get out of there quick. There was so much anger and evil in that place.
A few days ago God told Heidi to go back there. He told her to take the entire base of adults, which is about 300 of us, and go in force. So we loaded up into five big trucks, making two trips, and headed out to the village. Heidi began to preach as some of the team performed a drama about sin and evil and salvation and love and reconciliation.
After the drama and preaching we began to sing and dance and constantly sang and shouted and clapped the Name of Jesus. His Name was a part of everything we did. We NEVER left His Name out of anything. She even got the crowd to start repeating songs and yelling His Name. Then we asked if anyone had bad dreams or evil spirits bothering them in the night, raise your hands and we will bring peace to you. Lots of hands went up and we just started declaring Jesus’ peace over the crowd. Then we formed a “friendship tunnel” and invited those who wanted to be friends with Jesus to dance thru the tunnel and we would touch them and He would touch them. So many people went thru and kept coming back thru the tunnel.
I have been to 9 villages and have never felt so much peace in any place I have visited as I did that night. I found out the next day that this village is “begging” for a big church now. They want us there!!!
Yesterday I graduated from Missions School. Yes, I am a real missionary now (lol)! As the school progressed I felt more and more inadequate in myself. I sat there yesterday in such humbleness and told God, “God I feel so inadequate. I can’t see beyond my next step. I don’t understand this.” Then the Lord said to me, “You are exactly where I need you to be. You are in a place finally where you know that all you have is Me and without Me you can do nothing and therefore are truly inadequate in and of yourself. This I can use mightily because you will follow Me and trust Me only.”
I have tasted such a rich love. Every single day we spent so much time just soaking in God’s Presence and in communion with Him and each other. The more we communed with God and with each other, the more the love flowed out of us. The more we poured out onto others the more God filled us up to even greater levels of His Presence. Your love capacity cannot be increased just because you spend time with God. The only way it can increase is to pour it out on others.
David’s mighty men heard David say that he wanted a drink of water from the well in the city of Jerusalem. They ran through the battle lines of the enemy, arrows flying all around them, death at every breath, and they brought fresh water back for their king. And David poured it out on the ground as a drink offering to the Lord. Many people say that Jesus Blood was “spilled out” at the cross for us. Jesus “poured” His Blood out so that we could run in His love and in His strength, facing the enemy at every breath if need be. David poured out what he wanted most as an offering to the Lord. Jesus poured out all that He had left to give as an offering for us to His Father. When our King wants a drink of water, when He wants to drink of us, what will we do to get it for Him?
Bill Johnson from Bethel Church in Redding, California always says that he wants to finish well. The last few days of school have been very long and we would fall into bed exhausted. And at the end of every day my prayer has been, “God help me to finish well. Help me to never grow tired of running with You. I want to finish this race strong unto the very end, running across the finish line strong and finishing well, loving with every ounce of my being.” What can I pour out to my Lord this day? All that I have that is really mine to give is love. I pour it out and I sit in the dirt where it is poured and I know that is where He will drink.
I have just returned from the bush and, as usual, it was wonderful. The village that we visited hadn’t been visited in over two years. Almost every child was sick with running noses, coughs, eyes sticking together and such. There were so many with bad eye infections, where you couldn’t even open their eyes because they were filled with gook and stuck closed. We set up camp and then went to set up the Jesus movie. We always play African worship videos before we start and we dance with the children while we get set up. After the movie we always preach and give testimonies and pray for the sick. This crowd seemed so subdued, like nothing was registering. It was strange to me and I left wondering if anything really happened, although we did see some salvations and some miracles praise God.
The next morning I preached at the village church. We set up huge speakers outside and so as I spoke in the microphone, it was heard far and wide. The Lord definitely gave me the message because I have never preached with such authority and on the spur of the moment without any notes. I told the church that this message was not just for them but also for those who are along the roadside and for those who are in their huts. I told them to pay attention because God has a special message just for them. It was about hope and stolen dreams and spirits and demons in the night and Christ in you being the hope you need and the power you need to take your village back.
I told the children that they didn’t have to be afraid of evil spirits in their huts at night. If they have Jesus in them they can command the evil to leave in His name. I picked up a very small child and told everyone that even this child has more power than any demon because he has Jesus in him. It is hard to describe all that happened in the spiritual realm because of the night before and this message this morning. Here are just a few things.
We went out that very afternoon to witness house to house and 90% of the houses we went to wanted Jesus BEFORE we could even witness to them! We would walk up and say who we were and ask them if they knew about Jesus. They would say yes they had heard us and they wanted Him and how could they do it? It was crazy! We were the “net” and the Holy Spirit already went before us to tell them to swim into it!! At one house, a lady was standing outside with her son who appeared to be about twelve. She said she was Muslim but her son had been attending the services and he wants to be a Christian. We asked her if it was okay with her. She said yes and stood right there with him as he accepted Jesus! We believe that secretly she wanted to but couldn’t because of her husband.
Another guy was sitting on all these bamboo poles and he was a strong guy and someone who looked a little scary to approach. But these pastors have no fear of man. They just go and tell people about Jesus and they don’t worry about “their reputation” or what people will say or rejection. They just go. As soon as we came up to him, before we could even say anything, he said he was listening to us and he understood and he wanted Jesus! We couldn’t even witness because he had already been listening to us tell others and to our preaching. After he said a prayer to receive Jesus, the pastor told us that this same man was the only one in the village who had the tool they needed to clear the land to build the Iris Church there two years ago. He cleared the land for them with his tool and gave them his time. He never asked for anything. Two years later he wants Jesus! How many others are out there who want Jesus but nobody ever came to ask them or help them to understand how to do it? How many are dying because no one went to them?
This morning, we packed up our tents and loaded up the truck. We went to the church one last time and had a short “thank you” service. When we left, there was only one boy coughing, NO runny noses and NO stuck eyes. Last night we prayed for this baby, a few weeks old, and we wiped his eyes with a wet one and his mother couldn’t quit smiling because she could see her baby’s eyes again. Even the father kept giving us a thumbs up because he could see his son’s eyes. We couldn’t clean the whole village, only a few, but God miraculously cleaned eyes because they were all clear.
For two weeks now, God has had me on a journey about His Presence. Everywhere I go, everything I pray, I constantly ask for and declare His Presence. It’s ALL about His Presence. In His Presence there is FULLNESS of joy. There is fullness of everything we need. His Presence is irresistible and if we bring His Presence and if we walk WITH Him always, people will want Him. They will be waiting for us to ask, “Hey, have you heard about my Jesus? Would you like to know Him?” You can change a city when you carry His Presence. You can change a village when you carry His Presence.
The last night we were in the village, I asked the women if I could go with them to where they get water. The lead pastor said it would be fine. So here I go walking through a bush village right before dark, by myself with two African bush women, one in front and one in back. They are so cute to listen to as they talk. There is a melody to their voices, to their language and I am so comfortable listening to them although I can’t understand a word, well maybe one or two. As we go along, I am saying “Salama, moohavo!” and women all along the way are stopping what they are doing to excitedly comment on this strange sight and hearing an “acuna” (white person) speaking their tongue. Well, I am also carrying a five gallon water jug and they are probably wondering what I am going to do with this! We get to the well, which is about a quarter mile in. The women who live around the well stop what they are doing and smile and watch and wait.
We fill our jugs and the lead woman asks me if I have a wrap? They take their wraps and roll them tightly to put on top of their heads so that they can balance these very heavy jugs on with no hands and walk for long distances with. No, I am wearing a skirt and only have my sweatshirt hoody. She takes my hoody and rolls it up neatly. I pick this jug up over my head! Their eyes widen. I smile. She places the roll on my head and helps me adjust the jug. They put their jugs on their heads and we all start walking the way we came, one in front of me and one in back of me. Although I am holding the jug, I am walking and keeping pace with them. Eyes all around are smiling and women are excitedly commenting. I am wondering if they are saying, “We are not so different after all!” and I pray they understand that God sees us the same too.
I love these women so much. They are the most amazing women I have ever known. They are shy and hard working and they love to be loved. The old women kiss you always on both cheeks, always. They always smile and have no spirit of shame about them, although most have had such hard lives and have endured horrible situations. The women carry all the water all the time. This village’s well is said to be drying up in two weeks time. After this happens, they will walk literally half the day to a mountain and then carry these heavy jugs back AND their babies on their backs. I will never complain about hard work as long as I am around these women. Even the little girls at the age of seven or eight carry smaller jugs AND babies on their backs. They NEVER complain, no never. It is just a part of life. Wow! This is why I come here to Africa. I come to bring whatever hope I can. I come to bring Jesus, Who is their help and their hope.
I was sitting in the Prayer Garden on Monday at 0600 as I do every morning before school and the Lord impressed upon me the story about Jesus sitting in the boat with the disciples in Luke 5. He tells them to go out into the deep and there they catch a haul so big that their nets are close to breaking and their boat close to sinking. And so I meditated on this.
Two hours later as we sit in class, a speaker from Amsterdam starts talking and his entire message is Luke 5. Wow! Last night as he slept he had a dream where Jesus was on the beach. The Lord then gave him a parable of sorts. When fish are swimming in the ocean, they don’t go swimming into a net on purpose. They try to avoid it. Only makes sense. Well, Holy Spirit had to talk to all those fishes in Luke 5 to get them to swim into that very net. They would not do it on their own. He basically told those fishes, “You will have to swim into that net and die”. There is a war over lives. The Christians are who God is calling to be the net.
This is the time for souls. Randy Clark, Bill Johnson, Che Ahn and many others are saying that within the next 15 years, every single nation, tribe and tongue will hear the gospel. It is the time for souls. We have to be a healthy net. Holy Spirit will speak to the souls. All we have to do is catch them. It is that easy. This last weekend Rodney Howard Brown called our speaker and told him he saw/heard from the Lord the same thing about the net. Last weekend in one day Rodney Howard Brown saw 20,000 come to Jesus. It was that easy!
Last week our speaker was in a small town in India, only 400,000 people. They did not have permission to go there but they went anyway because he heard from the Lord. The first night 10,000 came to the meeting. The second night was 20,000. The third night was 50,000. The Hindu’s were getting angry and threatened their very lives. The police of this town told them to stay in their hotel. Three hours later, while his team was worshipping and praying, the head commissioner called him begging him to come because the people were screaming for the Christians!
So, he went and there were 200 police in force to try and stop any violence from the Hindus. There were 100,000 people there! There was a huge contingent of Hindus on stage and he asked the Lord what to do. Jesus said, “Wash their feet.” The team without a word bent and washed their feet. The Hindus were so shocked that white men would bow at their feet that they were literally speechless. He then preached on the Savior’s servant heart. That weekend 100,000 Hindus came to Jesus!
Two months ago they were in Pakistan and 25,000 Muslims came to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is making people pregnant with revival right now. Revival is carrying Jesus everywhere we go. Mary was pregnant with Jesus and John the Baptist lept in his mother’s womb. She was carrying Revival. John prepared the way and brought revival. We carry Revival. We carry Jesus. Holy Spirit will speak to the souls and tell them to go into the nets. We are the net. Get ready for a huge catch. Just be the net and go where He tells you. Wow!
We don’t have to have a paper that says we are ordained in order to give Good News. Jesus didn’t have a paper that said he was ordained to preach. The disciples didn’t have papers. They couldn’t even read. The Bible is full of prophetic words; Go to the nations and make disciples…”. That’s a prophetic word for everyone. In your nation, go. Don’t wait for someone to speak a word over you to go do something. Blessed is the peacemaker…. What you do for the least of these, you do for Me….. Those are prophetic words. They came from Jesus’ mouth. We just have to do it. Live the prophesy already spoken over you.
Every single week Heidi wrecks our “thinking”. There hasn’t been a session yet where we aren’t in a puddle on the floor, just weeping before the Lord and swimming in His love. She talked about mercy yesterday. Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy. We should carry mercy to the extent that people won’t be able to resist it. One of Heidi’s pastors, a national pastor named Sitole, went to a village of 4,000 a couple of years ago to preach the Good News. The people of that village told him he would no longer speak the Gospel and they cut out his tongue. They told him he would not go to another village to carry the Gospel. They literally chopped off his hands and feet while he was still alive! Then they peeled the skin from around his mouth and finally chopped off his head. Sitole’s brother packed up a Land Rover with a huge sound system and drove straight from South Africa all the way to that village and set up the sound system and began to tell them about the mercy of Jesus and then the brother forgave that village. They couldn’t resist the Lord’s mercy, the brother’s mercy. Most of that village bowed their knee to Jesus that day.
Jesus showed us mercy and He made a covenant with us. In a covenant there is a lot of death. They split the animals in half and walk thru them and vow their very lives if need be to keep the covenant. Missions is about death and covenant. To give ourselves to another people group or ministry, we must die to ourselves and be where they are.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Whatsoever you do for the least of these, you do for Me. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall SEE God. Whatsoever you do for THE LEAST OF THESE, you do for Me. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall SEE God. Whatsoever you do for the least of these, you do for Me. Do you want to SEE God? Whatsoever you do for the least of these you do for Me.
There is a little boy named Paulo who was brought into our school last week and he had sores all over him, his chest was crackling with phlem, his eyes and mouth and nose and ears had sores, he had rags on, he looked extremely sick and he is 10 years old with the body of a 5 year old (no exaggeration here). He has AIDS and he is weak and he never cries or complains or says anything. He just sits quietly and watches, his chest rising and falling with his labored breathing.
He is the least of these. Does he make our hearts weep? Does he move us to do something? Jesus looks out at us through those eyes covered in sores with such love and He calls us to do something. Early this morning Paulo was standing outside the gate of our house area and as I walked out I just scooped him up and took him to school with me. He drew in my journal, he ate my orange slices, he sat in my arms and drank in the atmosphere. I believe that Paulo will overcome this disease by the blood of the Lamb and by the love of our testimony. Oh Jesus, wreck our way of thinking!
I am learning to live in “the rest”, minister out of “the rest” and it is the best place to live from. I am learning to live in His Presence as I live in community with all sorts of people, have few modern conveniences, minister at the jail, wash dishes, serve food to pastors and kids, play with and get dirty with toddlers, make beads with the girls, minister to the sick, camp in the bush and watch movies with the boys. I go, go, go all day and I have such joy and energy because I stay in His Presence. I am learning that the only way to do it is to walk in love, to take EVERY opportunity to CHOOSE love. I am laughing as I sit here because it is so good to finally “get it”.
Most people look at difficulties in their lives as an attack of the enemy. When runners train for marathons there is a point in the running where they run into resistance and difficulty. They feel like quitting because it gets really hard. If they don’t persevere and accept the difficulty, their muscles get weak and when the real marathon race comes, they immediately fall out of the race. God allows difficulties on purpose to train our muscles for the difficult things ahead. Don’t look at all difficulty negatively. Look at it as training for the bigger race ahead. Persevere and endure and finish strong.
Heidi celebrates birthdays one day every month and the Iris kids who have birthdays get an afternoon at the beach, cake and coca cola and presents. Yesterday while at the beach, she and some of the missionaries came across a little girl and her mother. The little girl had calluses on her knees from crawling all her life because she has never walked. Heidi began to love on her and told her, “come little sweetie and walk” and she lifted her to her feet and the little girl just started walking on her skinny little legs!!! No elaborate prayers, just the Name of Jesus. The mother confirmed that this girl had NEVER walked. Jesus!! Pour out love, offer your hand and see the lame walk. Wow……
Mark 9:49-50 Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good. But if it has lost its saltiness how do we restore it? Have salt within yourselves and be at peace and live in unity with each other. Did you realize that Leviticus 2:13 says to offer salt with ALL your offerings? How do we offer ourselves to the Lord? Are we salted with fire? Meditate this and see what the Lord says to you. It’s a pretty deep well.
