The Perils Pauline
"Who is weak, and I am not weak?" 2 Corinthians 11:25
A friend of mine responded to my post on Facebook in reference to the SIXTEEN hours I found myself trapped in a car traveling from Matema to Morogoro. "I think Americans are weenies." I have to agree, and humbly pray "in ALL things, be anxious for nothing.."
I consider not screaming, an answer to my anxiousness. I only let a few covered-mouth gasps escape, after the 400th speed bump is hit a bit too hard and the top of my head collides with the ceiling - AGAIN.
Another friend proposed I am going through "Flooding" therapy, which floods you with what you have an aversion to, in an attempt to rid you of the phobia (mine being fourth-world car rides through mountains). Well, in "olden-days" they also put crazy people in snake pits under the belief that what would drive a sane person crazy would drive a crazy person sane!
Sane or not, crazy or not, Weenie I am!
Honestly, I made a valiant effort to look around at the breathtaking beauty of the mountains, the tea plantations, and even smile at the satellite dishes outside the mud huts of the villages. I keep my eyes looking up, instead of down at the virtual drop off of the precipice we were traveling on. And when I saw cargo trucks loaded 6 feet over the top careening towards us IN OUR LANE, I prepared myself for the next words out of my mouth to be "Hello, Jesus."
These reflections, you may find comical, and even think embellished by a hysterical weenie, but I can assure you they are not. On our way to Njombe we passed no less than 4 FATAL accidents.
Here, there are very few ambulances (mostly in the larger cities) and even fewer medical facilities.
When a collision occurs, the village turns out to drag the victims from the car (if possible). And then they wait..
For death
Or a passing motorist to transport the injured to the nearest place where a doctor can be found. There is minimal healthcare, minimal trained medical personnel and God truly IS the healer. During the "safari" yesterday back towards Mogorgoro the German speaker shared a story of the missionary predecessor at their hospital. He, his wife and 1 year old daughter were traveling when they were hit by a "lorry" (known to us as an 18-wheeler. The baby was thrown through the window. The wife sustained no injuries (miraculously) but the husband who was holding the baby in the backseat, sustained severely crushed legs. He was pulled from the vehicle, a bus was flagged down and they laid him on the floorboard near the door. The bus continued to make its pick ups and stops before arriving at a place he could be treated. He was in such severe shock - lying on the floorboard he did not realize he was being burned by the heat from the engine. Third degree!
I know we have all heard missionary HORROR stories and certainly my long car journey does not even make the book. It is merely discomfort that will pass on Tuesday when I board a plane for my Sanctuary of Solace. But, all the recounting of "stories" helps ME be EVER mindful, the cost of the Gospel is not "cheap."
Even when we contribute to "African Missions," the annual "Lottie Moon Fund Drive" or whatever you church calls "Mission Week," I encourage you to keep in mind it takes willing people EVEN now, to sacrifice to take the message to the ends of the earth. It takes obedient servants to listen and respond to the call with "Here I am, send me."
Whenever I find myself in a world far from home, whatever distant location and people I encounter, my prayer is to connect YOU to the "cause" you financially support, and to the people and lands you commit to pray for. They are not nameless individuals (to God) and they are praising God for His answer to their prayers.
God is using you:
To provide Bibles
To send the Gospel
To honor servants with the only acknowledgment they may ever receive on this earth
To gift them with blankets of warmth
To "over feed" them with nourishment they have never experienced
To send a girl so far far far far away - so a very smart boy on a beach owns a Bible
"When I am a weenie, His strength is made perfect and His Son is glorified."
"In hard traveling year in and year out (15 years of ministry), I've had to ford rivers (in northern India), fend off robbers (in Romania), struggle with friends (at the Wounded Warrior Getaway), struggle with foes (in remote villages). I've been at risk in the city (in Jinan, China), at risk in the country (sick in Nellore) , endangered by desert sun (in Africa) and sea storm (crossing at Zanzibar), and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I've know drudgery (36 hours in a car) and hard labor (sewing quilts for orphans in Kodaikanal), many a long and lonely night without sleep (25 years being single), many a missed meal (mission diet), blasted by the cold (-70 below zero in Salehkard, Siberia), naked to the weather..(114 degrees in Ghana)." .
"If I have to brag about myself, I'll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus." 2 Corinthians 11:24 The Message
Even if the ONLY agenda in the heavenly realm was to see the eyes of the boy light up seeing an actual map IN a Bible, showing the "safaris" of Paul - I would be satisfied. But we serve a much bigger King than that. The work YOU have accomplished here is far more than a Bible delivery, Tanzania is bigger than Texas (that's real big) and YOU have helped shape and change a nation for the glory of the Son and His coming Kingdom!
"Call to Me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your on." Jeremiah 33:3
Marantha!!
On the road again like Willie (Nelson)
And as a Texan
That keeps me smiling
In His service
PRAY:
The roots of the Word to yield 100-fold harvest
The teachers to impact the next generation with grace and love
The Gospel to spread like the wildfires we have encountered
Safety on the roads
Restoration of health (red African dirt stuck in my lungs)
Journey back to the states
For your financial commitment to seeing the Gospel go forth to the ends of the earth!
To make a donation by credit card online visit our website:
www.sunshineafterrain.org
To contribute by check:
Sunshine After Rain Ministries
2610 Lakehill Lane
Unit 5A
Carrollton TX 75006
