I love Jesus. I want to love him more. He is so good to me. So there I was, sittin' in this hole in the wall coffee shop in the Philippines writing a blog to my faithful readers wondering, "What the heck am I possibly going to say to these people at this point?" I have been in in the Philippines for less than 2 weeks and I have done more "work" than in the past 3 months. Africa has so much to offer, however; the majority of our time there consisted of short bursts of door-to-door evangelism and a few opportunities to stand in front of a crowd of excellent people who understood not a syllable of what I was saying as I shared with them the word of God. Fantastic ministry if I had more time to establish myself there. But, I am getting to use my hands here. shovelling dirt, filling in holes, building basketball courts, feeding children, playing games with them, reading to them. What I get to do in this place seems to actually and honestly make a difference. God moves beyond what we can see in the immediate present so often that it is truly a blessing to see the change that you are making right here and right now.
Please let me share with you something that I was thinking about just yesterday. A former world racer now lives here in the Philippines and has established a home for delinquint boys to live in instead of them having to serve there term in prison. These boys are abandoned, abused, criminally active youth that have had no one to support their lives and this woman took them in and is educating them, teaching them the truth of the Gospel, and helping them to be self-sufficient in the community. She creates jobs for these boys and opportunities for them to shadow professional men in different areas such as carpenters so that they can learn a trade that may save their futures. God is really moving in this ministry…But that is not the story. For all of you back in the States, if you hopped into a van full of people and you knew that one of them, maybe two, maybe the person right next to you was a murderer, what would you do next? I feel like many would say, "Why is he here and not locked up?" or "I'm not going to stay here and risk my safety with this person" and they would get right out of the van. I'd like to share with you what happened yesterday and I understand that some parents and family members may freak out by what I am about to say so I will not say exactly who was with me except that there were 14 of us. One of the young men, 16 years old, who lives at this boys home was in prison for 2 years because of murder. He actually was responsible for taking the life of another being. He was in the van. We all were. After going to see this home, he and the former racer accompanied us back to our own home. And it was an amazing sight. The church was being the church and I would bet that no one in that van had any idea how odd a sight it would be for any "normal" person to see 14 American men and women squished together talking about Jesus with a boy who has committed murder. Not a single person thought any different of this young man. He loved Jesus and he honored God with his life. During the time that he was in prison he learned to read…He used the Bible as his teacher. Now his hunger for God and his word is great and there is no force great enough to seperate him from God's love, which means that there is no force great enough to seperate him from our love. It was just so amazing to see God's people acting as forgiving as Jesus in that moment. There was no murderer in that van but a young man redeemed and atoned for in the blood of Jesus Christ.
Family, Friends, and Faithful Readers, if you get anything from this story I want it to be this…Stop looking through the eyes of Hell where judgment, fear, and iniquity cast flames on its enemies. Look through the eyes of God where the dividing lines of sin, culture, nationality, pain, intolerance, and hate are erased by unwavering and irrational grace and love. Jump in the van head long into the seat next to the murderer.
The Man With Unclean Lips,
Brandon Barnum
