A divine revelation

If you grew up as I did in Church every Sunday and Wednesday you heard sermon after sermon and Bible lesson after Bible lesson beginning in the nursery and continuing into adulthood emphasis was frequently made on faith and truly trusting God for guidance in life and divine revelation. The heroes of the faith were lauded for giving up everything this world had to offer trusting that what God promised them was infinitely better. It never ceases to amaze me how the Andrew and Peter dropped their nets one day, left their father, and followed Jesus. They had plenty of good, ostensible reasons for keeping their career and family. But now we read their story for no other reason than that they did leave those nets and followed Jesus.

Jesus told us to ask, seek and knock in Matthew but I’ve begin to see how seldom actually do it. Oh we ask, but when do we ask with no back-up plan, no alternative, no contingency? When do we ask Jesus, trusting that either we get an answer from him or don’t get one at all. When do truly walk by faith?

Since Charles, Brittany and his family have returned to Suriname our “orientation” period has been over. We just finished wrapping-up after a volunteer group came from Tennessee. (If any of you guys are reading this, just want to express how much I enjoyed you’re coming to Suriname and miss you) Now, with less than fifteen months left on my term it was time to decide where Taylor and I would be. We knew what we’d be doing: chronological Bible storying and discipleship, but weren’t sure exactly where we would be located. Realistically, most villages would be glad to have us and therefore we critically needed discernment of which one to stay. Prior to last week Charles had one place in mind for us to visit but none of us felt any particular place was where we should be. So last Sunday we’re sitting around the table with no clue of where we should be with every option on the table. Charles told us he wants us to be in the interior by Wednesday. Him and Brittany asked Taylor and I to entertain the thought of going to different villages and doing work separately. We got down on our knees and earnestly prayed that night for guidance. We asked for revelation through any and all means: dreams, a voice, a person, the Word etc.

Monday night came. We prayed together and went home and slept. In the morning I did my devotional and at one point I felt the Holy Spirit telling me of a certain village called Godoholo. Taylor had a dream that night of a certain man from a village right across from Ditabikii. Charles called and asked us if the Lord had given us an answer. He had given him and Brittany one. This was uncharted ground for me. Charles joked with me when we went to his house for lunch that if are answers didn’t coincide, someone got a word from God and someone got it from somewhere else. I was a little apprehensive to say the least about the revelation. So we sat around the table and told them what was revealed to me. When I said Godoholo they both looked at each other and smiled. Taylor then told us about his dream. Charles and Brittany prayed that night and told them that the Lord showed them that I should be in Godoholo and Taylor should stay in Ditabikii. We were in absolute amazement. God showed all four of us separately the same word. Incredible!

This faith step has really strengthened my walk with the Lord. Charles was not a bit surprised but told us that the Lord would not give us a contradictory answer. He tells us that those who seek will find, those who ask will receive and to him who knocks the door will be opened. And so Wednesday, we headed back interior and stayed for four days. We met with Captains from Ditabikii and Godohlo to ask permission to stay and tell Bible stories. It went really well. Although everything is yet to be finalized, God has shown us where he wants Taylor and I to be. God showed us how walking by faith pleases the Lord and he does not neglect us when we ask in his name.

Stating the obvious

On a sultry, star-filled night in the interior Charles, Taylor and I along with 5 volunteers from Tennesse who had come for the week to do ministry in the interior sat in semi-circle just outside Ba’Jepin’s house waiting for “church” to start on a Wednesday night. We arrived around sunset and waited close to an hour before two other believers from the island arrived. They had been busy finishing up some last minute (or hour) work. As you can expect, this was anything but your conventional 11 A.M Sunday worship service. Charles initiated the time by asking Taylor and I to share a story from the Bible God had led us to share. Taylor told the parable of the net in Aukaan with Charles and I translating for the volunteers. He made an analogy pertinent to the jungle referring to fish we had caught setting hooks one day, some of which had been eaten by an alligator and we’re therefore analogous to “bad” fish in the parable and others which we’re the uneaten “good fish”. The Aukaaners understood well and repeated back the story and what the significance was in regard to God’s final righteous judgment.

I then told from memory the story of Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4 and made some practical application emphasizing how the disciples had seen Jesus’ authority, might and unprecedented miraculous power and yet when a storm threatened their ship (with Jesus himself on board!) they cried out: “master don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”. In the same way, we see Jesus’ work in our lives and yet when “storms” come and the wind howls and the waves crash all around we are too often like the disciples because of our lack of faith. After telling this story with a voice which was quickly waning as I was coming down with a cold, a brother, Ba’Maliki repeated the story back to me from memory with striking accuracy. It is Aukaan custom to repeat a story back to the story-teller to demonstrate their understanding of it. I was impressed and blessed to witness this. Charles concluded by asking three of the Aukaan brothers one example of which they have seen God’s work in their life. They all described how the Lord has shown himself faithful and Charles himself also gave one in which he prayed to God for rain to put out a big fire. Taylor and I witnessed this and it seeing it strengthened our faith.

As it was getting late, we prepared to leave but Charles could discern that rain was coming despite previously clear skies. Sure enough as we began walk out it began to pour. We went back to take cover at the house and wait out the deluge. Just then another believer Um Langa, showed up just as we were concluding the meeting clearly sad that he had missed the meeting. The rain delay gave us opportunity to share the stories with him. Taylor and Charles told their to Um Langa. He was joyful afterwards and grateful the Lord had sent the rain in order that we could not leave and as a consequence, he did not miss a word from the Lord. As Charles drove us back in treacherous darkness on the perilous river where only a spotlight and prior knowledge of the location of rocks prevented a disaster those in the group reflected back on what Um Langa had said. He never once veered from the reality that God sent the rain that night, at that particular time for the sole purpose of him getting a chance to hear those stories. I quickly realized how quickly I glossed over what was simply the obvious: God working through (in this case) nature to allow Um Langa to hear the word of the Lord. There’s a lesson to be learned from our Aukaan brother. If we only looked more intently we’d see God’s work in our lives in the simple and ordinary just as much as the profound and miraculous. We’ll see it as Um Langa did.