As a child, I remember going to school and reciting
the Pledge of Allegiance. I would stand
proud, my right hand over my heart, and I would say, “I pledge allegiance to
the flag of the United States of America.
And to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible
with liberty and justice for all.”
ONE NATION UNDER GOD.
Then, suddenly, we didn’t have to recite the pledge
of allegiance anymore. Just like that,
it was taken out of the public school system.
What about Christmas trees in public schools? My high school used to put one up in the
office every year. Then, my senior year,
the school was no longer allowed to put a Christmas tree up. A number of parents had called and complained
that putting up Christmas trees was offensive to non-Christians.
Or maybe you heard about the Chief Justice of the
Alabama Supreme Court who was removed from office for refusing to remove a
monument to the Ten Commandments from his courthouse building.
And when did people start writing “Merry X-mas” on
their Christmas cards? If you don’t
believe in Christ, why are you even celebrating His birthday in the first
place?
You get the point.
The thing is, when I see these things happening in my country, I become
discouraged. How did we get to this
place? How did we go from a country that
knew and acknowledged the God that created it, to a country that has turned our
backs on the very hand that feeds us?
On
July 30, 1956, President Dwight
D. Eisenhower signed
a bill declaring “In God We Trust” the national motto of the United
States. He said, “It is proper to remind
all of us of this self-evident truth that as long as this country trusts in
God, it will prevail.”
The United States is the most powerful country in
the world. But we have forgotten
why. No nation can be strong except in the strength
of God, or safe except in His defense. I have been traveling all over the world, to
third world country after third world country, and I am at a loss for words at
the poverty I have seen. We are so
blessed to be Americans. We are so
fortunate to live where we do. And it is
all because of GOD’S GRACE!
Once upon a time, the United States of America was a
place where the word of God was alive.
One nation under God. We knew who
we were. And we knew who we had to thank
for it. When did all of this power go to
our heads? Who decided to stop giving
God the credit for what He has done for us?
Do we really just think Americans are so superior that we figured it all
out by ourselves?
Being in Asia for three months only added to my
discouragement. We stayed in Thailand
for two out of three months where only one percent of the population is
Christian. One percent! To say it was difficult to see so many people
who do not know the love of Jesus Christ would be a grave understatement. To meet face after face and hear story after
story of people looking to fill a void but refusing to accept Jesus was
devastating. Once you have encountered
the love of the living God, you are never the same. You feel like you have discovered gold. You want to shout His praises from the
mountain tops because your hope has been restored. But most importantly, you want everyone in
the world to have what you have. And it
is painful, physically painful, when people do not want what you have to offer
them. Because you know how good it
is. You know what they are missing.
I have fallen to my knees many nights and begged God
to move in the hearts of those people.
To reveal Himself to them the way He has revealed Himself to me. To show them the love of Jesus Christ, who
died for them and who came back to live inside of all of us. But God is a perfect gentleman. He is the Creator of the entire
universe. He created the earth and the
heavens. He formed man of the dust of
the ground and breathed life into him.
He knows all of the stars in the sky and calls them by name. But He will not force Himself on us. He has given us free will to accept Him or
not. To accept what Jesus did for us or
not. And that is the part that is so
hard for me. How can you say no to
something like that? To SOMEONE like
that?
Psalm 30:5 says, “Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy comes in the morning.”
Halleluiah for morning! After
months of Asia slowly starting to take its toll, my hope has been restored. I have arrived in AFRICA!
We arrived in Navrongo, Ghana late Wednesday night. One of the many reasons, selfish as it may
sound, that our team decided to go to northern Ghana was because we thought it
would be cooler. Ha ha! Perhaps we should have brushed up on our
geography before making such an assumption, seeing as how Africa is below the
equator. Therefore, the farther north
you go in Ghana, the hotter it gets. It
is 113 degrees here. I cannot even begin to explain what that feels like!
But man is it AWESOME! God knew just what we needed. He knows all things. Before any one of us was created in our
mother’s womb, God knew that the six of us would be here in Navrongo, Ghana with
these precious people at this time. That
never ceases to blow my mind! God knows
what we need and He is so faithful to provide.
Just as we are traveling the world in hopes of pouring into others and
sharing the love of Jesus Christ, we continue to be poured into and blessed by
so many people. And Ghana is no
exception. The people in Ghana have
renewed my faith that God is still moving all over the world. He is just as alive as ever. Satan wants me to believe that the world has
turned its back on Jesus Christ. But God
brought me to Africa to show me otherwise.
THESE PEOPLE ARE ON FIRE!
Our team is staying with Pastor Emmanuel and his
wife Mary Anne. They are absolutely
amazing. Emmanuel means “God with
us.” And He is! I tear up almost every time this man speaks. His heart for God is the size of the entire
continent of Africa. He and his church have
been praying for our team since they found out we were coming here. And they told the children about us who have
been praying for us as well. Giving
gifts is a big part of the culture here in Ghana. It is a way of showing love and respect to
others. And they love to honor their
guests. So at 5am the morning after we
arrived, a bunch of children showed up at the pastor’s door bearing gifts
because they knew we had arrived late the night before. Pastor Emmanuel told us that it is the dry
season here, so there is not much food to go around. Therefore, anything that the children had to
give, we knew was from an overflow of their hearts. The children gave us a huge bag of rice and
another huge bag of peanuts. I can’t put
into words the emotions that came over me when we woke up around 9am and the
pastor showed us what the children had dropped off for us. I can’t even begin to explain how long it
must have taken them to gather so much rice and peanuts for us, and how much their
families could probably use those gifts so much more than us. How do you not just start weeping? That is the love of Jesus Christ!
The more we get to know the people here, the more I
am encouraged. They thank God day and
night for EVERYTHING! “Thank you, God
for safe travels”…”Thank you, Father, for a new day”…”Thank you, Jesus, for
cool breezes”…”Thank you, Lord, for a beautiful sunset”…
Everyone says, “God bless you” everywhere you
go. The stores have names like, “Lord of
Lords Hairstyles” or “God Saves Electronics.”
These people are so welcoming. They are ready and willing to serve you in
any way they can because they are overflowing with the love of Jesus in their
hearts. And they are hungry for more of
Him! Pastor Emmanuel says that the
people here who are not Christians were blown away when they heard that
Americans were coming all the way to Navrongo, Ghana, in the dead of summer,
because they wanted to share the love of Jesus.
He said just us being here is a testament to them. People will give their lives to Jesus just
because we said “yes” and showed up.
Wow! We don’t have to do a thing
but show up! God wants to do
unimaginable things in us and through us!
We just have to keep saying yes.
Thank you, God, for sending us to Ghana. Thank you for the precious people we have
fallen in love with here. Thank you for
bringing me to a country where your name is shouted from every rooftop. Thank you for reminding me to keep praying
for my own country. Thank you for
knowing what we need and providing it in Your perfect timing. Thank you for reminding me that the world has
not turned its back on You. There is a
movement happening. And I get to be a
part of it. Thank You! Thank You!
Thank You!
