Going on missions carries some degree of risk, whether it’s domestic or international, for one week or a decade. It’s been said among Christians that, “safest place to be is in the will of God.” But Erwin McManus points out in one of his books, I believe it’s The Barbarian Way, that this is not true. Our January 2010 World Racers, I imagine, are inclined to agree.
A team from the M Squad was burglarized while they were asleep the night of July 4th. Chris Cave shares his reaction on his blog:
I awake the next morning hearing words that everyone desires to hear, “Chris, wake up. Last night we were robbed”.
GREAT! As we slept, Mac computers, iPods, backpacks and other miscellaneous items were stolen right through our fingertips. We didn’t awake during the burglary, but instead slept soundly as the thieves took headphones out from my ears, and computers from right beside our heads.
Is God good? At that moment I felt like I had every right to curse God. Curse Him for allowing people walk away with many thousands of dollars of possessions we had worked hard to save money for, or were given as gifts.
Curse Him for not allowing us to awake while this was happening. Curse Him because someone removed my headphones from within my ears as I slept listening to my favourite Coldplay album.
I couldn’t curse Him though. I was filled with joy. We didn’t know who these people were, what they could have done, and if they were carrying any weapons. Who knows that if we woke up, we could have been seriously injured. God knows.
There isn’t a doubt in my mind that He had His hands over us as we slept. He may have made the thieves blind to us, or taken away destructive or harmful intent from them. Who can really say?
Now, when Chris says the following statement, a staple call-and-response chant in many churches, he means it:
God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.
In Tanzania, team Se7en was also robbed; however, in this instance, the perpetrators were armed and entered forcibly.
They took my watch first then said, “Money, I’ll kill you.” I heard that phrase many times during the next five minutes.
A man then grabbed my arm and took me to the room Trevor and I stayed in. I watched them take my wallet out of a pair of pants then, they grabbed both of my bags. Everything I had was in my bags. . .
As they walked out, I stopped the one carrying my day pack and asked for my Bible. He just looked at me. I then took my bag off of his shoulder, found my Bible, and placed it on a night stand. I walked away that night with a few things, my Bible and my mandolin.
. . . As they were leaving, I said “God bless you” in Swahili. They turned around and said “Mungu. . .” which means God and then they stopped, as if they were caught off guard by what I said. . .
Many people from the area and from the church came to the house a few minutes later. . . A few of them said that they couldn’t believe how joyful we were. . .
Things didn’t hit me until the afternoon of the next day. I became extremely bitter, extremely angry, and very much so carried a calloused heart for a few hours. I was wrecked. I hit rock bottom, spiritually and emotionally.
I never once blamed God, nor did I ask why. And honestly, in my bitterness and anger, I felt so close to Him. I knew He understood how I felt. It was normal for me to feel those emotions. . .
Read Trevor‘s , Jenae‘s, Jessi‘s, Jessica‘s, and Jillian‘s reflections, too.
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