Reflections on Africa

Leading up to my trip to Chad I couldn't help but wonder what the Lord would teach me during my stay. The leader of our group, Mr. Fuhrmann, had encouraged all of us to keep a journal the several days leading up to, during, and after our trip. I found keeping a journal to be a very profitable activity. It helped me to sort out all of my thoughts at the end of each day and now I can look back to it and remember everything that I learned.  

 The first thing that the Lord showed me is that there is no such thing as different classes between the saints. What I mean is that when God looks at me, He is just as pleased with me as He is with any other saint. He loves us all the same! I don't have to be like Hudson Taylor to please Him! I don't have to follow some arduous list of religious activities to have His smile upon my life! It seems like such a simple truth but too often have I found myself in the grip of legalism, thinking I am so much better than others who do not hold to my list of rules. Rules that aren't found in scripture, but rather, in my imagination. Rules that, when I am honest, I can't even live up to! He showed me this through the example of the missionaries. I expected them to be very ascetic people, like so many missionaries I had read about, but they were very ordinary. Just ordinary people with an extraordinary God. :)

The second thing He taught me was that He wasn't calling me to do mission work. Leading up to the trip, I had a lot of speculation as to how the Lord might use this trip to show me that I need to be a missionary. The idea of mission work had crossed my path many times, so I figured that if He wanted me to be a full-time missionary then this was probably the time to show me. :) But He didn't, and I am very grateful to have clarity in this matter. I feel like He wants me to continue in farming, which He has prospered me in and I love doing! Always good to have a greater sense of the will of God.

The third and final thing that the Lord showed me during my trip to Chad was that I need to be more involved in evangelization of the lost in a local sense. This is something that has been on my mind for several months. While I was in Chad any attempt to witness would be met with two primary obstacles; a language barrier and a culture barrier. I didn't speak their language and I didn't know their culture. These things are very real problems. I couldn't help but think about the fact that back in the States there is no language and culture barriers. This thought spurs me on to be a witness to the community around me. So, I am looking into how I might proceed with this desire.

Thank you for reading my posts. It has been a pleasure writing them. My next and last (I think) post is about the stop in Paris during our return home.