Have you ever thought that just maybe there might be a slight chance that you have it all wrong?
Well I have.
I have had that thought and I am having it now.
I have been to 3 continents and 6 different countries within those continents. I am just starting month 7 now, but let’s just take a time out for a minute . . .
Let me check . . . YEP, we’re in AFRICA!
Hang around my team for very long and you will hear the phrase, “T.I.A y’all!”, which means this is Africa. We say it when the power goes out in the middle of cooking a meal, when the water shuts off at 10am and doesn’t come on until two days later, when our 9am bus doesn't show up for another hour and a half, or when we squeeze 23 people into one van to get to our ministry.
TIA! We say this because things aren’t always what we expect here.
But isn’t that part of the beauty ?
One of the areas I want to be able to say TIA is in the simplicity of the church here. The church is STRAIGHT UP, 100% simple. Its an unfinished concrete building without floors, doors, or windows, probably missing a roof. Its some wooden poles and traps strapped together flapping in the wind and dust, or a small school classroom with the wooden benches turned around . Nothing about church here is extravagant.
I think this is where we may have missed it.
One of my most favorite experiences when I have been overseas is the church. It is simple, it is easy, it is purely Jesus! There is nothing flashy, no power points, smoke machines or light shows. Well, lets be honest, there really is not much of anything out here, sometimes we are lucky if we have a building to meet in. This is the beauty of the church that I have been looking for. People don't walk from miles away for the building here, they walk for Jesus. Church here is not just a Sunday thing, an hour thing, or a party thing. Church here is a Jesus thing. Jesus is the only hope that people have here and they know it.
Jesus is HOPE
He is REAL
He is LOVE
He is HEALER
He is PROVIDER
When is the last time that you
TRULY believed that Jesus is who he said he is?
Jesus is so real to people here. The church is full of fire, power, and anointing because it truly centers around Jesus. If I took you to churches in the states, I can't say that this is what you would find. You would find people who show up late, skip worship, hurry out from the message for lunch, people half sleeping during the message, and a myriad of other things. In Africa, we sit for hours in church we praise, dance, sing loud without guitars, full bands, or anything at all. We pray for healing for every single person who needs it no matter how long after the service it takes and we love on one another after every service. Jesus cannot be hidden here because he has been found. The American church has hidden the real Jesus behind so many frills that I don't know if people have seen or experienced the Jesus that people in Africa know.
Church let’s wake up and find our Jesus.
Jesus who died for us, who saved us.
Jesus who has revealed his love that we might LOVE!
I hope that at the end of it all I can say that I didn't miss a thing. That Jesus is real because I have experienced him. I haven’t played hide and seek with Him, but that I have sought him truly like the people here have.
TIA y’all!
