We arrived in Cote D’ivoire a little over a week ago. Many people we have met have been incredible and kind, even though my attempts at French have been a disaster. It’s wonderful. A straight comedy watching me try. It has finally set in that we are in Africa. There have been minor frustrations and uncertainties along the way- travel days were long and tiring. 59 hours from Georgia to the Ivory Coast. Searched by security in the Dubai airport. All good though! Minus the firecracker. (I was detained briefly to be searched by the Dubai airport security, and they found a leftover firecracker from July 4th. Not so good.)
Waiting is the name of the game here. Learning patience is a necessity if you want to be happy. When somebody says they will be here at 9, it means 10:30 to 11. I think that it has been difficult for the people who rely on structure and strict times for comfort, however it has felt pretty comfortable to me. Usually, with a few exceptions.
From the get go I have loved the interactions with people here. I don’t speak a LICK of French, so communication has been hilarious. It has been so FUN and HARD. Even with the vast gap, I have made several close friends so far. It seems like everyone I come in contact with wants to give me their number and WhatsApp info. Selfies are a huge thing here and frankly, even though the environment is different than the USA, it is amazing how similar people are everywhere. Laughter over food, enjoying community and relationships… The loves, the desires, the hopes, the fears, the questions, the wonderings, the amusements, the entertainments are the same! Everything, except the driving. Driving here is crazy and I LOVE it. It is a straight circus on the streets. I think I would thrive. Or die quickly. Not sure which yet. Maybe I will find out one day. HAH. I also love seeing animals roaming and lizards chasing each other on the streets. Who needs Pokemon Go when there are real life Pokemon everywhere? Although, catching them is a harder task – it blows my mind how I could catch chicken and lizards when I was a child, but now I am hopelessly inadequate.
After the first few days of getting settled and getting to know the area slightly, we finally were able to connect with our ministry host, Pastor Georges, as well as with his daughters and one son very well. A good number of the other 20-30 year olds in the church have become my friends too, along with people I have met at the local park and just on the street. In fact, on Sunday, they called up our teams to the front of the service and introduced us to their church. Their love has spoke volumes of what Jesus has done in their lives and I love them fiercely as well.
I feel very comfortable here in the Ivory Coast. The kids are great fun, and playing basketball and soccer at the local park with them has been great. Many have called me their friend and brother… People are more apt to say hello and ask about our lives than in the US. It is a much more social atmosphere, for the most part. Occasionally, there are people who try to take advantage of me being a foreigner – but that is not my concern. Why should I worry about my money, my possessions, or my life – when I have already died with Jesus in the flesh and been raised up with Him? My home is not America, nor is it Cote D’ivoire. In fact, it is not this earth at all anymore, so while I am still in exile here – I will wait patiently for my God – and He is not slow to work.
One of the most praiseworthy things I can talk about is how God has paved the way for us to preach the Gospel. Pastor Georges has reemphasized the call to his own church members that all Christians have from God to share this great news about the new life available to everyone who believes…. and they have joined us in our evangelistic ministry. We have gone out evangelizing in the mall, in the business district, at the bus station – with mixed reactions of course. At one point Jon Manning and I were sharing our love for Jesus (rather, Jesus love for us) with two strangers at this bus station, and 4 more people came and sat down and listened to us preaching, with the help of a translator. Two younger 24 year old boys came and listened intently, asking hard questions and were cool to talk to. We were also accepted in the local children’s hospital to pray over many, many children stricken with Malaria, TB, brain diseases, and the doctors providing them care. The doctors accompanied us and explained what was going on with each of them. The faith was evident in some and the lack thereof was just as evident in others. (Read James 1)
It was a hard time seeing the pain in that place, but also wonderful seeing the Holy Spirit touching many lives and it is evident in the results. Seeds are being planted, and I have been able to share my testimony of what Jesus has done in my life to muslims, atheists, and “church-going-religious-types.” Sometimes, received well, sometimes rejected. Even those who have not believed me, see something in me that I firmly claim as not my own doing – I did not spawn this joy and love out of merely “thinking” the right things. It is an utter mystery – yet totally in line with the science of today. Chemically/neurologically, you can physically see the change in my brain from who I was before knowing Jesus. If you knew me before, you would be able to see the difference just in my life – hatred is now love, judgement is now compassion, fear is now bravery. In all of this, I pray people see Jesus through me – not that I am anything at all, for I am the least worthy of this grand cosmic calling – but since God has been pleased to open up my eyes and ears to the truth, (for reasons I still don’t comprehend; I don’t understand this love He has shown me…) and grant me the right to become an adopted son of God, I am embracing my duty and my joy to tell people the wonderful news that this new life is not only for me, but for anyone who believes.
Yet, I mourn all the more for those who reject it and refuse to believe… Not because I want them to join a “club,” or want them to be burdened by “religious duties” (which is not the new life in Jesus, which is freedom and wisdom, but that burdensome religion is a skewed Gospel) – rather I want them to be brought back to life. I want slaves to become free. My urgency is increasing with the birth pains of the end of this world and I am seeing more clearly how greatly important each human being is, and how much God wants to have relationship with each one… Yet, you can’t have a gift you don’t accept.. much less a gift from a giver that you deny the existence of. Only through the Power of Jesus have I been able to love those who have hated me, forgive those who have hurt me, and gain freedom from the shame of my past – even with my constant stumbling, I know that God, who created time, sees the end result clearly.
God has seen my tears for those still lost, and even my own tears are only a small, miniscule percentage of His mourning and sadness for those who hate Him. He has also seen my tears for my own frailty and lack of faith… He is responding in kindness and love.
Read this carefully.
God wants peace with all of his creation. The curse subjected to this earth has been our own doing. Our sickness, perversions, violence, thievery, lies, hatred are the result of our own cosmic rebellion against the creator of all Science, all Math, all Language, all Nature (both discovered and yet undiscovered.) This rebellion, this spiritual treason against our creator warrants death, much more than political treason in any country – Hence, why we all will die. Death is not natural and our own emotions attest to this, no matter how much we have tried to numb ourselves to death and normalize it’s existence… and we will never be able to defeat death totally by our own scientific endeavors. The good news is that death has already been defeated… The only reason anyone would say that death being the punishment of sin in all humans is unwarranted is because they do not truly grasp the splendor and purity of God. That is why God planned before time began to insert Himself into human history, for the SOLE purpose of dying a brutal death as an atoning sacrifice for our own evil, so that we won’t experience the everlasting separation from God that we deserve..and more-so, then to resurrect Himself 3 days later to prove His deity and show what He will do to all those who’s lives rest on Him -in order that we might be brought close to him once again… and we will all see God in person one day. In fact, the only reason God doesn’t appear to us now is for our own protection and for His own Loves sake. That is why He waits so long to restore the Earth and everything in it that humanity is so bent on destroying… we have had so long to correct ourselves, understand by now that it isn’t the lack of knowledge that is the problem, it is me and it is you.
What human can stand on the sun? Who can bear that brilliant light?
How much more so would the frail, evil human be obliterated in the light of the creator of all suns.
I pray that you will be protected from that holy pure brilliance in that day – the day I yearn for with every ounce of my being. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God – and the only protection is so, so simple to attain… the offer so sweet… just by believing that He took the cost of sin upon Himself!! No good human is good enough, no good work is good enough. We need splendid purity of heart and soul to dwell with God and actually survive/enjoy it…. Do we not become more aware of how dirty our clothes were when we finally wash them? But you will never wash your clothes if you believed they were not dirty… It is foolish to think you can wear the same shirt all your life without it getting dirty and turning to rags… Let the one who can understand this see that this is the same with our own body, and more so with our own minds, and infinitely MORE so with our own souls…
God has made way for peace with all of those who want peace with Him. Most people don’t understand the gravity of a cosmic rebellion against creator… I hope you feel the weight of your sin, as I have (and now I rest in freedom) but not so that you are stuck and condemned and feel like a piece of junk, but only so you can see more clearly the Wonderful Ultimate Reality who God is and who Jesus is. He can redeem you from your past and your future wrongs. He will right the wrongs of the world and will pay back each man/woman according to their deeds – but Justice has been met in totality for those who will receive it, and it will be met in the future for those who deny it to themselves. I know this is heavy, and it is heavy preaching this.
Yet –
In that day—
“Sing about a fruitful vineyard:
3I, the Lord, watch over it;
I water it continually.
I guard it day and night
so that no one may harm it.
4I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
I would march against them in battle;
I would set them all on fire.
5Or else let them come to me for refuge;
let them make peace with me,
yes, let them make peace with me.”
Isaiah 27:2-5
All in all, the name of God is being glorified, both in the confusion and in the clarity – and He has been bringing me rest and peace through it all. My heart swells at the love I have been receiving, and I am compelled all the more to pour it out on others. My friends Odilon, James, Sovereign, Guy Marcel, Lou Lou, Pastor Georges, Odrich, Edmond, Edgar, Paula and many more have blessed me and my team greatly. I am looking forward to the rest of my time here and hope you check are patient with me as I am slow to write blogs… but I assure you, I will try my best to keep you in the loop!
Blessings,
JJ Becker
