Written 11/19/2010
The more I travel around the world, the more I see, despite
the poverty and injustices, how God truly is love…
And the more I meet my brothers and sisters around the
world, the more anxious I get to be in heaven one day,….
Today , Cinthia, and Sister Enera (a member of the church we
are working with), and I felt to go back to the village we started off in last
week (Masasa). There were two people we wanted to follow up on and see how they
were doing, Regina and Noel.
Regina is a mother who has a son who is an alcoholic. When
we first met her, her disposition was down and she was extremely discouraged by
the lifestyle of destruction her
son was living. Regina was already
a born again Christian, and so Cinthia and I were able to encourage her in
believing that God could get ahold of her son and change his life around! By
the time we left Regina’s house, she was full of faith and a determination to
pray down heaven for her son’s 180 transformation. We hope to get to visit her
again before we leave Mzuzu, because she was not at her house when today. But I
KNOW that God is working in her life, and in her son’s life.
Noel is a young guy, about 23, and he was most welcoming to
us in his home. He is full of life and hungry for answers to the deep questions
of life. We began to talk, and during the conversation we learned that he
believed he would go to heaven if he completed certain steps, and good works.
This is a concept that many have in America as well…but unfortunately it is
false. God is such a perfect and holy God, that no good work we do can ever
impress him. Plus if we do a thousand good works and 1 sin…that sin will ruin our
track record and still keep us separate from God. Think of all the ingredients
it takes to make a cake. Every single one could be perfect except for one
ROTTEN egg, and the cake is destroyed. (thank you BT Kidz for the visual of
green goo from an egg that I will never forget!)
So we shared what God’s word says about how to get to
heaven, and how to be made right with God..
“If you confess with your heart that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For
it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by
confessing with your mouth that you are saved.â€� �”Romans 10:9-10
and..
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t
take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the
good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.â€� �”Ephesians 2: 8-9
Noel immediately wanted to receive the gift. He was so
shocked at how simple and easy it was… Just to believe?.. Yup… that all God
wants… is us to believe in what Christ did for us on the cross. Noel believed
that day, and his joyful countenance is something I hope to be near again
before I leave Mzuzu as well, because he wasn’t home today either.
So Cinthia, Enera, and I were praying about what to do next.
We felt to just stand on the dirt road, and talk to the people passing by..
Due to scenarios like what occurred next, I have come to
realize more and more how much God is love.
We were standing on the pretty African dirt road, waiting
for people to pass by. While we were waiting, we saw, Francisco, a young man we
met at a house visit last week too. He was coming down the road with his bike.
He’s a Christian, and is really hungry for knowing more about God. So we
started talking… Then another man walked by and we started talking to him. He
was a believer and we encouraged him.
Then Francisco called over another guy, Christopher, and
Christopher was hungry for truth. He wasn’t sure if he was going to heaven, and
we were able to share with him the Truth of what God’s word says. He made a
decision to receive Christ as his personal Savior. And his entire countenance
changed. He hung around and we talked more, then Francisco called over another
young guy, Benjah.
When Benjah was asked if he knew where he would go if he was
to die today, he hesitantly said heaven. We asked him if he thought everyone
went to heaven, and he said yes… Then we said “What about murderers and
thieves.� And he said they go to hell. And we started talking about how sin is
sin in God’s eyes. Murder and hate. Sin. Lies, jealousy, cheating, pride, etc…
all sin… no matter how big or little us humans say it is… it still separates
us from a perfect God.
Benjah made a decision to put his faith in Christ as well,
and accept the gift of peace with God, that God made available through Jesus.
“…God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we
could be made right with God through Christ.� 2 Corinthians 5:21
Benjah was so
eager to learn more, and we hope to see him Sunday. I now God is going to do
beautiful things in his life.
While we were talking to Christopher and Benjah, some curious
children started to gather around. At first glance there were about 5, then 10, then 20.. We
felt God tell us to turn to the children, teach them some songs, and tell them
about who Jesus is. So we started with “The Banana Song�… it is now Mzuzu’s #1
hit amongst the children. Goes
something like this “Peel banana, peel, peel banana..� (great diddy). Then we
shared the story about Jesus and how God sent him to pay the price for our sins,
because of His intense and radical love for us. (John 3:16)
It was a day of divine appointments. God loves each and
every single one of those people so much that he would arrange everything so
perfectly. That’s a God who is love, and who is so desperate for his creation
to know Him personally and become his children. He’s not a God who is too busy
controlling the universe that He has no time for us… on the contrary. He LONGS
for relationship with us, and He will do whatever it takes to meet a heart who
is searching for Truth… a heart that is searching for something to fill the
void that nothing else will fill.
This is the God that I serve. And Love. And can’t wait to be
with one day in person for all eternity, along with my brothers and sisters
from every tribe and tongue.
I didn’t always feel this way. At one point in my life, I wasn’t even sure I’d be in heaven.
But now I know… I know… and no one or nothing can take that peace and
excitement away from me.
“I am leaving you with a gift- peace of mind and heart. And
the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give…â€� �” Jesus (via John 14:27a)
Agenda: Love,
Bethsaida
