Meet Thomas. 
I sat next to Thomas at church today. To look at him you might think he’s just another Mozambican man, probably born and raised here in the city of Pemba and never ventured much further. You might assume that he hasn’t had too much education or experiences to share. But behind everyone’s eyes there is a story to tell and today Thomas shared a bit of his history. He said he didn’t know where to start, so I asked him his birthday. I told him it’s always best to start at the beginning.
He was born November 10, 1980 in the small country of Burundi, in central Africa (one of the world’s poorest nations). We were born just two months apart from one another but on two separate continents. It’s amazing to think how vastly different our life experiences have been based on this fact. Thomas lived in Burundi for the first six years of his life until civil war began in his country. There was much violence and killing everywhere.
Men with guns came looking for his father, but his father had recently fled without any word where he had gone. The men told Thomas to inform his father they were looking for him. Eventually Thomas’ mother was forced to take her four small children to a refugee camp in Rwanda, where they stayed until the genocide started in 1994 (the mass murder of nearly a million people). He spent his entire childhood and adolescent years inside the walls of refugee camps…from Rwanda, to Chad, to Tanzania. His father was eventually able to reunite with the family, as the camps generally keep a register and picture of all the people inside. He said that the refugee camps are much like prison; most of the time you are not allowed to leave to go look for work. Because people have no work or activity, they often have nothing to do except get themselves in trouble. There is a lot of smoking, alcoholism, and corruption that happens. It’s hard to know who to trust.
But there are good things that happen as well. The people usually organize themselves to educate their children and they use whatever materials they can find to teach them. Groups like the Red Cross or the government would often in and organize sports programs. He said he enjoys playing soccer, basketball, volleyball, and frisbee, as well as running track and field. Many people in the refugee camps also spend their time learning musical instruments. Thomas played a beautiful song on the guitar for us, a song about the goodness of the Lord. Since his days growing up in the refugee camps Thomas has gone on to further his education and been to university. He now works as a project manager for a ministry which works in leper colonies. He speaks French, Swahili, English, and Portuguese, among several other African languages.
It is truly amazing what God can do in a life that is fully surrendered to him, especially when faced with many obstacles in life. It is the opposition that makes us stronger, like a weight lifter needing resistance to build muscle. If it is easy and there is no challenge, there will be no improvement.
Thomas is an example of someone who has faced many hardships but God has used those things that the devil meant as harm to create him into the man he is today. The life in the Bible that comes to mind is that of Joseph, who was frequently mistreated and came against so many trials, in spite of being faithful to God. As you may recall he says to his brothers, his abusers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives”. -Genesis 50:20
There is an old story my pastor shared last year of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, “This is good!”
One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.
Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, “This is good!” To which the king replied, “No, this is NOT good!” and proceeded to send his friend to jail.
About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.
As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. “You were right,” he said, “it was good that my thumb was blown off.”
And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. “And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this.” “No,” his friend replied, “This is good!” “What do you mean, ‘This is good’? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?”
“If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you.”
The story is a reminder of God’s plan to use all things for the good of them who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).
I am thankful for this year in my life to help build up my faith. I pray that as Joseph said it will be used by God to accomplish the ‘saving of many lives’. Although times have been tough, God has been given a greater opportunity to prove His faithfulness in my life. This month, for example, we have been spending time helping with a construction project for missionaries and it includes several hours a day of scraping and sanding wood poles. Not only has it been building up our arm muscles but I have been using the time to build up myself spiritually by memorizing all kinds of scriptures I recorded on my ipod. I will close with one of those passages and pray that this message ministers to you today!
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”- James 1:2-6
