“Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” -Acts 18:9
The Kenyan sun was hot. It was mid
afternoon. Our stomachs were full, a late lunch of chipote (mmm.. fried dough)
and some sort of meat in soup (we call it “red stuff�). We were
all tired… And it’s time to head out to one of our ministry
contact’s contacts. I can’t say any of us really wanted to go.
Probably looking at around a thirty or forty minute drive to a school
none of us knew anything about. All we know is they want to hear
from us.
This is not unusual for Africa… we
are always making seemingly random ministry stops to give a
“testimony� or share what we white people are doing. It just
seemed this was going to be another of the same…
All I can remember is that none of us
were really excited. We of course ask the most important question,
“How much time do we need to fill?� (it is VERY common to get
somewhere and expectations are black and white different from what
you expect… usually in the sense that all we think we are doing is
introducing ourselves and then we hear, “okay, ya’ll preach for
2 hours… go!). You know us people in the West like to prepare and
know what’s coming.
So we are told about an hour. No
problem. We figure the easiest way for all of us to take the easy
way out, is for each of us to share a little testimony of ten or so
minutes.. that would cover an hour.
We all pile in the vehicle… and about
15 minutes into it something blows in the engine. A belt snapped and
then destroyed an internal fan. Our truck was ushered to the side of
the road. It was a solid thirty or forty five minute delay to a
meeting we were already running late to. We were a bit discouraged…
this meant we wouldn’t be able to travel to an orphanage afterwards
that we were wanting to visit.
Something just didn’t sit right in my
mind though… it was one of those freak things that happen and you
just have a strange sense that the devil is trying to prevent
something. Well we finally get the travel situation back in order
and make our way to the school.
As we pull into the campus, it feels
dead. It’s a boarding school for boys, or I should say young men…
like high school and college. As we drove around we realized the
place felt dead because the whole place had crammed in a room around
back, anticipating our arrival.
When we drove up I immediately began
feeling the Spirit of the Lord. And as we enter the room it was one
of those moments where the weight of God’s plans, the weight of His
glory just hit me. I walked in to five hundred young men staring at
me (they had all been waiting almost an hour for us). I was captured
by the gravity of the moment, and at the same time I felt deeply
convicted.
My team and I had given hardly any
thought to the meeting, hardly any prayer, if at all. I had
completely minimized God, minimized what He wanted to do, minimized
the wonder and beauty of the gospel. And here I was, now standing
before five hundred men with nothing prepared. Neither prepared in
mind nor heart. How presumptuous?
But… God is a God of mercy… and
“All grace has been given to us so that having an all-sufficiency
in all things and at all times we may abound in every good work (2
Cor 9:8).� (How about that promise!!!)
We all sang a couple songs and then it
was time for us to go. And then because of just the way were sitting
and who should start, the lot fell to me to get up and share.
And so I picked up the microphone, and
as I held it, again the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I knew
I no longer was here just to pass time, not just to fulfill our
contacts’ wishes, not just to “say� I did ministry, or to make
myself feel useful… I realized in that moment this wasn’t about
myself at all… that everything I had walked in that building
thinking came crashing down, the weight of it was so much greater
than I previously imagined.
Five hundred young men sat staring at
me, completely quiet, eager to hear what the foreigner will say. Not
a space could be seen in the audience, they had crowded in, lining
the walls, sitting on tables, as far back as I could see.
My script was to share a ten-minute
testimony about my life. God’s script was far different. What should i tell these men… only one word came to mind… GRACE!
And so I began to share of God’s amazing grace. The main scripture I taught from was Ephesians
2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith… and this
not your own doing, it is the gift of God.� And in this I
expressed the Father’s heart for His children, man’s wickedness
and total depravity, and man’s hopeless situation upon which the
gospel dawns. I shared that where sin has abounded, grace abounds
all the more, that God loves you just the way you are. That there is
nothing you can do to make God love you more, and nothing you can do
to make Him love you less… He loves you because He loves you
because He loves you.
It seemed the more I shared the more
receptive they became, and as I kept opening my mouth, God just kept
filling it with words… with illustrations and with personal stories from
my life. I ended up speaking for maybe 45 minutes or so. Towards
the end of my talk I felt God ask me to offer an invitation, but I
dismissed the thought thinking it was just my own voice.
As I was finishing my talk God was
moving within one of my team members. Chelsea was the only one who
had not planned on sharing… she actually felt sick… but while I
closed she felt God tell her that she was supposed to share her
testimony. So she gets up there and shares for 20 or 30 minutes. It
was a very honest and a powerful testimony of how God’s grace has
captured her life.
So as I’m sitting there listening to
her, I realize we are out of time, and no one else was going to be
speaking. God starts putting it heavy on my heart that we ARE
supposed to offer an invitation. I didn’t really like the idea
cause that meant I’d have to get back up there… that’d be weird
God! Besides, I never ask invitations… that’s not what I do.
But oh well, this ain’t about me.
So I awkwardly walk back up there and
get the mic from Chelsea. And I begin to speak to the men again.
One thing that was strong in me was this… I can’t leave here
thinking something might have been missed… either for myself or for
these men. The last thing I want to do is walk out of here without
giving people a chance to be reconciled to God.
So I tell them I want all the people
that would like to put their faith in Christ to stand up. “Anyone
who wants to believe in the Lord Jesus and His saving work in the
cross and resurrection, please stand up.�
Nobody moves.
Hmmm…
I ask again. I’m thinking, “okay,
great! I didn’t hear God right but they are all saved!�
Then one person begins standing, then
another, and another, and like a wave the whole place stood up.
“What?! They have misunderstood me!�
I look around to any leadership that
speaks Swahili. They all have their heads bowed.
Okay, so I then make it real clear,
slowing down my English, “If you have a relationship with Christ,
you are NOT standing… this is only for people who are NOT saved.�
And to my surprise only a handful of
people then sit down. They do understand!
I have them repeat a prayer with me,
confessing the Truth that is in Jesus Christ. At least three or four
hundred men repeated that prayer with me!!
I then declared, “Bwena sa phiway!�
and joy filled the room. I was completely overwhelmed by God’s
moving!! What grace!? What power!?
As we left there was incredible
gratitude for our visit. The school chaplain and president were so
encouraged.
I’ll never forget the day! It
completely surprised me!… but we serve a good God who loves to
surprise us!! Please pray that discipleship will take place among
the new believers, that they may grow and become strong in the Lord!
