African Surprise

I am very detail oriented.  That means spontaneity is not my specialty.  This is one reason Ken is so good for me.  He is super fun and has never cared about a single detail in his life.  We are a perfect mix of extreme opposites!  Because of my deep love for details, I in turn do not like surprises.   I want to know what to expect at all times so I can plan and prepare for every part.

When doing missions, this is not always a good trait.  Flexibility is vital.  So, I just plan for being flexible.  Before I go, I try to think of everything that may come up and try to be prepared for that. I prepare a devotion, testimony, talk on youth ministry, a random Bible lesson, I ALWAYS pack a deck of cards and spoons, and a few other things - just in case!  

Me, Nicola. Lisa, Jay

On the Wednesday we were in the village, Nicola (the missionary there) told me we were going to need someone who was willing to preach the sermon on the following Sunday.  Normally that would be our pastor, Jay.  However, this year he and a couple of the other guys were leaving early to go see some other work in another part of Africa so he would not be available.  Evidently there was a vote while I was not around and Jay told me I was nominated.  

Certainly something I had prepared would work, right?  They wanted me to speak for about 20-30 minutes.  I teach almost every Sunday for longer than that, so this was not too intimidating.  The rest of the week I mulled over some thoughts and had a decent outline.  I was feeling pretty confident.  

Saturday evening came.  We were getting ready for dinner when I saw Nicola walking rather briskly toward me.  She had a smirk on her face.  I was not sure if this was good news or bad news for me.  “I have a little African surprise for you.”  I quickly determined it was bad news for me.  “Instead of preaching for 20-30 minutes, we need you to preach for an hour.”

The Drummers of Burundi

Nothing could have prepared me for that!  Not only did I need to double or triple my talk, it was already Saturday night.  We were on our way to dinner and following that was our celebration.  Because I was there last year, I knew that meant the rest of the evening was filled with the drummers performance, a time for thank you gifts and speeches, and fellowship with all the translators.  It would be 9 or 10 at night before I would be able to sit down and figure out what in the world I was going to do for the next morning.  

My original plan was to talk to them about the church being missional.  I was going to make Jay proud for sure!  Once I found out about this “African surprise”, I quickly changed gears and went middle school on them.  I spend a lot of my time and energy talking to our middle schoolers about having a genuine life-altering relationship with Jesus.  You know, a relationship instead of a religion.  

Too many people that attend church treat it as another activity in their busy lives.  It is like Jesus is another category or facet of who they are.  Work, family, God, friends, hobbies, etc.  Really, if we are honest, if we take a very hard look at our lives, many of us would have to say that our lives are still lived to serve ourselves instead of God.  We are kind because it makes us feel good.  We are giving because it makes us look good.  Not everyone!  Just many.  

If you claim to follow Jesus, it changes everything.  Everything I do, everything I think, everything I say, every choice I make.  Everything is centered on God.  My life is not my own.  I died to myself.  Living for myself; what makes me happy and what makes me feel good, is no longer relevant.  The old person that I was is gone.  “I no longer live but Christ lives in me.”  It is not that I am just a good and moral person.  Not just that I contribute to society.  Not just that I am a loving person.  The only thing I desire to do is to help make an invisible God visible.  Love God and love others.  Everything I do runs through that filter.

Preaching Sunday Morning

I wish I could say I am that person.  I try but am clearly a work in progress.  We all are.  However, this should be who we are striving to become.  The world has more than enough moral people who are kind and loving when it is easy and comfortable.  What we need are people who choose to love the unlovable, accept the unaccepted, and care for the forgotten.  People who give when it is not expected, serve when it is not noticed, give time when we don’t have it, and extend grace to those who don’t deserve it.  We need people that love because He first loved them.  People that don’t live a life where God is part of it but live a life where God is all of it.  

This is my heart beat.  This is what I want for my life, my children, my students, and it is what I asked of our African friends that Sunday morning.  I was not as articulate as I wished I had been.  It is hard to speak using a translator.  You have to speak in sentences instead of thoughts.  But, I went on for about 45 minutes so hopefully my heart was heard.  I am pretty sure the other 15 minutes they had to fill was spent cleaning up the mess I made.  But, I made it through. 

Lord, may I be who you intended me to be.  Help me to get out of the way so that You can be seen.  Thank you for the grace You give me when I do not represent You well.