Jesus and hope

Monday, 1/31/11 -- Like every day of this trip, God again was so faithful to Solveig and me today. Solveig, as main coordinator and translator is going between three different languages and doing very well…but it’s a lot of work for her, and I fear it can drain almost as much energy as the heat. She’s reminded me a few times that she’s older than me, but I think she’s doing wonderfully with it all.

I, on the other hand, feel like a needy consumer. I consume Solveig’s linguistic knowledge and generosity, as she patiently translates for me, and I also consume many people’s kindnesses along the way. No one is complaining, gratefully. Solveig is so gracious and patient, and the people we are meeting seem genuinely eager and pleased to see and meet with us. Yet, I’m often asking God to please make sure this trip accomplishes His purposes – both in me and in others. I have to trust Him to bring this about, and pray that I won’t miss the reason I’m here, because the needs I see all around me are overwhelming, and I didn’t come to simply consume others’ hospitality and kindnesses.

We sat in a home (round, dirt floor, with thatched roof) today, huddled in chairs and on stools around a sick woman who was lying on the floor on a mattress. We were conversing with this group of people who knew Solveig and knew my dad and grandparents – along with a few younger people who didn’t know them. These were believers in Jesus Christ, and our fellowship with them was sweet, and my heart was aching for the woman on the mattress who almost shares my name – Anna. I am praying for her earnestly…that God would heal her quickly or take her home to be with Him very soon. That is her prayer, also.

I wondered a lot today about how the good news of freedom from sin by faith in Jesus has helped these people. It’s the reason my grandparents spent forty years here. Were those worthwhile years, in light of the difficult living conditions (that is how I will phrase it – they did not complain one bit to us) that I saw today? God’s power is awesome…He could certainly intervene so that this woman does not have to suffer with flies swarming around her. Yet there she lies…

The verse I kept hearing in my mind as I wrestled with this, goes something like, “In this world you will have trouble, but fear not; I have overcome the world.” Without heaven ahead of us, where there will be no sin or sickness or death, I’m pretty sure I should discard my beliefs. And without promises of life eternal with things like gold streets and things so good I can’t imagine, I should likely just live for today and not care much about anything or anyone else. And most of all, without heaven…without being with my Savior who I love so much, this life doesn’t make much sense and there is not enough justice.

My grandparents brought people in Yagoua something called hope through the knowledge of, and by entering into a relationship with, Jesus Christ. And while life is extremely difficult for many people around the world; once individuals know Jesus personally, they have His presence with them always – even if lying sick on a thin mattress in a very hot, dusty place. Individuals like Anna can look forward, with confidence, to eternal life in heaven, where wrongs and inequities will finally be righted, for good.

Before we gave a few small gifts and took “family” pictures of this group, the oldest, Anna’s husband, Foutisou – a man of about 80, who knew my grandpa – prayed with us, at our request. We all bowed our heads and he stood up...

I couldn’t understand anything he said, except for the beginning, when he started by praying “to the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob – and the God of Yagoua…” Solveig and my tears began flowing at that point, and continued through his lengthy prayer in Masana – the language my grandpa wrote down, and translated the Word of God into. My grandpa did this to share Jesus and hope with the people of Yagoua.