Never The Same

The moon is full and shining high above the sycamore tree outside our bedroom window. An occasional cool breeze sweeps in creating a calm and quiet mood - perfect for sleeping. It tends to be a little noisy at night though - the livestock are settling in, a tractor making its way home, the chatter of rowdy boys around a fire, crickets humming... There are also less settling sounds like the chirping of bats nearby, scratching on our tin roof (we convince ourselves its just a bird or lizards and not the bats), packs of wild dogs howl, bark and snarl. (Its hard to describe but there is always something eerie about it.) There are also many nights that we can hear repetitive drum beats, sounds of celebration and laughter. It is very rich. Filled with life.

Yet as I write this there is a man shouting over the loud speaker from the mosque. I am reminded of the death all around. Each neighbor we have eaten with, every kind person we have greeted, the children who have laughed and played in our courtyard, all have the same fate apart from Christ.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (Romans 10:13, 14)

Sitting at a retreat in 4th grade I prayed a prayer that would change everything. I quietly waited there in the pew, earnestly seeking from God what He had planned for my life. Matthew 28:19 flooded my mind and my heart - I would never be the same.

19 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost"

At that moment I knew I had been called to the nations. I felt like I had received a special mission from God. It was exciting! I didn't know all that it meant, but I received it with a trust that God would make a way.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6 ESV)

Through out my life, it has already cost me more than I initially thought I would have to pay, but it is worth it all. What could matter more in this life, than a soul damned to hell in the next? What price could I place on a fellow brother or sister's salvation? Could eternity for another cost me too much in this life? Christ has already paid the ultimate price. I cannot repay my debt, but I am privileged to serve Him as He makes Himself known to the nations!

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (Isaiah 61:1 ESV)

And they sang a new song, saying,

"Worthy are you to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation,

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" (Revelation 5:9, 13 ESV)

I pray that I will be worshipping at Christ's feet with the Rangi people on that day. I can't imagine why God would take a girl from Minnesota, call her at the age of 9 to serve Him in the nations, then continue to fulfill that call when everything else said it was impossible, to take her across the world, into a little village called Busi, in East Africa where she will proclaim the name of Jesus Christ.

and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written,

"Those who have never been told of him will see,

and those who have never heard will understand." (Romans 15:20, 21 ESV)

Pray with me that the Rangi people would see and understand!