Last night our team went to eat with a local. He is a contact Amber and Breanna made on their daily morning beach walk. He rents out umbrellas to beach goers and seems always be out on the beach. He is older himself, yet takes care of His elderly mother. He is super sweet and invited the girls and all their friends (my team and I) for dinner on the beach a week in advance.
Our local friend is also a fisherman, and judging by the amount of fish he served us, a good one. Again, I’ve been taken aback by the hospitality of the people here.
This is what He served us:
And a few other courses that I don’t have photo evidence to prove. But it was a lot of fish and it was good.
What’s even better is the wisdom he shared. He shared how chasing after wealth or power don’t leave you happy. How poverty, and hunger though very real and affect your physical state, don’t determine your mindset. You choose poverty and hunger in the mind. You may not choose the reality of poverty or hunger as it appears on the physical. I don’t think anyone really does, but you do choose your attitude and your outlook on the bad things that happen. You choose your outlook when you experience poverty or hunger. He was getting choked up as he spoke the words. Passion was apparent.
Our friend has wisdom that comes with years of experience, and hard times. Yet, he was grateful. He cried multiple times in sharing with us. In serving us. He said he’d never forget this night with tears welling up in his eyes. He was grateful to serve someone else. He seemed to not only understand, but feel that it is a blessing to give. It will be rewarded to him ten-fold!
How beautiful a night it was.
It wasn’t beautiful just because we sat ten feet from the waves crashing on the shore. It wasn’t beautiful just because we sat under the light of the Stars and moon. It wasn’t beautiful because of the candles that sat on the table flickering as the night went on. It was beautiful because of the company. It was beautiful because of the story God is writing with our lives and the life of our local friend. God is not done with him. Today, Tyler and I are spending time with our friend. I’m going to continue to learn and share how much his story reminds me of His story.
I’m reminded by this encounter of the Gospel. Christ gave it all for us. He gave His life. It was returned to Him with the lives of all those who trust in Him. The resurrection is assurance of salvation for all of us who give our lives to Christ. We die to ourselves with Christ, and we find true life on the other side of that surrender. The blessing is great, but what’s better is the one who blesses. Knowing Him is the greatest. Sharing Him an honor.
Romans 5:1?-?21 HCSB
“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person — though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life! And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have now received this reconciliation through Him. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned. In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression. He is a prototype of the Coming One. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift overflowed to the many by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ. And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification. Since by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification for everyone. For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Be praying for all our local friends here in North Africa. Pray for assurance through Christ for the people here. Pray for the Gospel to take root.
-Daniel
