It’s not been easy writing this final blog. Trying to conclude these last 6 months in a page is no easy feat. I tried to start writing many times but could never find the right words and am sorry for the delay it has caused between my last post and this one. For those of you who have read my blogs and have prayed for me, thank you. I look forward to seeing you soon,
Chris.
It’s a Sunday afternoon and I’ve just finished my last bible study with the guys. We read through the first Chapter of Revelation together and talked about how the early Christians were so encouraged by it that they were ready to be torn apart by lions, burned alive, crucified or undergo other pleasant deaths. I don’t reckon these guys will ever have to go through anything like that but I reckon their lives could get very difficult in the future if they truly live out Christian lives. At the moment there are only a handful of Christian men in the Church and barely any live in the village community, of those that do they still hold to other beliefs, for the most part the church is made up of women and children. Those Women who have taken a stand against the rainmaker and Witch doctor by not paying them respect (i.e. doing what they say) have paid for it dearly. No man as far as I’m aware has ever objected to the spiritual beliefs of the village. I would guess that many of them even if they wanted to deny them would simply be too afraid to do so. I suppose that’s what made me so excited to work with young guys here, It’s been my aim to try and help them learn about the gospel but also prepare them for what may come if they allow their lives to be run by God. I wonder if they realized what I was asking them to do tonight; to be prepared to endure hardships, to potentially be chucked out of the village or have their house and crops burnt. I pray that God would work in them and that if hard times ever arise they will have strength.
When I think of the fear that people here have about rejecting the beliefs of their neighbors, I feel sorry for them. However the situation is not too dissimilar to our own in the Western Church; are we not also becoming too afraid to stand against our culture and stand with God? Look at our Church, we now have female pastors, gay pastors and inevitably we will soon have gay marriages, many of us are driven by an idolatry of our image and a desire to fit in. When I ask these guys to stand out, I wonder if I am being a hypocrite. Throughout school I never stood out, sure thing people knew I was a Christian, but I never behaved like one or went against things I knew displeased my God. There is a big difference between standing against a Witch doctor and standing against the pressure to fit in by getting nice clothes, a six pack, avoiding the wrong crowds or whatever but the basic principle at work is the same. I see this as a challenge to me for the future, to not be afraid to follow Christ even if it means being rejected by others.
For GCSE English in school we read a book called Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, I really enjoyed it although I was never too good at writing essays about it. The book was about an African tribe in the early 1900’s, which saw the arrival of two missionaries and then colonization and the changes that occurred. The two missionaries came at different times, one was very kind and adapted to the culture, was warmly accepted and successful in bringing the gospel whilst the other opposed the culture, wasn’t very friendly and caused a lot of friction. In all honesty I wish I could have got more integrated with the culture as at times I still felt like too much of an outsider. However, what I have learnt from my experience and reflection on the book is that evangelization without love and care for the people, is futile. The times that I think I really got through to people were when I truly I cared for them. Whenever we talk about giving I think we focus too much on money. I’ve realized that to truly change things we must be like the first missionary in Achebe’s book and be willing to open ourselves up to the vulnerable and unreached whether it’s in the work office, football field, University or African bush.
As I mentioned in my last blog Chuck and Shelly Parker arrived from America hoping to stay as long term missionaries. They have both been a real blessing to me and have helped me immensely, Chuck as an elder and father figure and Shelly as a friend and mother in Christ. Two weeks ago I had just recovered from a virus, which had hit me and left me in bed for a couple of days and heard that Chuck was also ill. Thinking that he might enjoy a soda after all the ORS (salt) drinks one has to take when sick I headed up to their house, which is in the middle of the village and a good trek up the mountain. I arrived to to find Chuck lying on a mattress in the kitchen with a quinine drip in his arm. Shelly and a local nurse called Michael were there with him. It was a strange experience, as I sat there looking down at Chuck I realized that if it weren’t for this medicine he would be in deaths hands. When he woke up he looked so weak that I felt somehow uncomfortable as though I shouldn’t be seeing him in this state. Chuck recovered a couple of days later and was back to his old self. After asking around I realized that almost half of the missionaries there would be dead by now if it weren’t for modern medicine. Those early missionaries were quite something. In our culture we don’t talk about death, we act as if it weren’t there yet out here that’s not possible. I could write you a list of the people who have died or come close to death whilst I’ve been here: There are the women who’ve fell from high trees whilst working and either broken their necks or been lucky and broken something else, the school watchmen died painfully from some illness to be found in the morning, numerous babies and children have died from Malaria… doubtless you think this is terrible and it is, but sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t help us to be more aware of death. We never talk about it except at funerals and then people seem to assume that the person in question is definitely in heaven when often the opposite is most likely true. It’s just a thought but maybe our ungodly culture has smothered talk of death, perhaps as Christians we ought to talk about it more as Paul did (Philippians 1v21)?
School finished well and the final exams were good although it wasn’t like a Disney film where the students all suddenly get A’s like I’d hoped. It was sad saying goodbye to all the students, I got one last time to talk to them about the Gospel and I hope they got something from it. I talked about Truth and how they should decide whether Jesus claiming to be the Son of God is true based upon the evidence and not upon their desire to live the way they want and if it isn’t true as Paul says then we Christians should be pitied above all others.
Steve recently returned from South Africa and it was great to have him and his family back. He also managed to bring some golf clubs with him from South Africa so I could go and hit a few balls on the football pitch and claim to be one of the first people to ever play golf in South Sudan! I now feel ready to return home. The dry season heats (with highs over 40°c) and pumping water most nights has left me exhausted and ready for a break. I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends again. This experience has taught me so much and as I begin to reflect on all that I have done I hope I will grow in Christ. I would advise taking time out in the mission field to all young Christians, even though it has been hard at times it has all been worth it.
Job 23v10 ~ But he knows the way that I take: when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
