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.