…Amen!
Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanksgiving and Honor and Power and
Strength belong to our G0d forever and ever amen.”
Revelation 7:10, 12
When our
friend O sees G0d do something or when she experiences His great
unfailing love, the only thing she can say is “Kuma te!” That is exactly
where I was yesterday and I am still there this morning…”Kuma te! I
have no words!”
I have only thoughts of pr@ise and a heart filled with gratitude and
awe for the One Who Saves! As I read Revelation 7:9-17 this morning, it
was a perfect picture of what I see our Father doing here. I imagined
eternity and every nation, tribe, people and language represented and
then..the faces of those G0d has drawn to Himself here in Mali filled my
mind. I could do nothing but join in with the shouts and songs of those
who have gone before us!
This week, another man from the street corner where we sit and live
and work among our friends there, called us over. He told us, “I want to
give my life to J.s.s.” C@therine and I looked at each other unsure we
understood but both heard the same thing. As always, I told him I would
call one of our friends and he would come with us to make sure we truly
understood what S was saying to us. S0 was persistent and continued to
talk to me each morning about it and then he began asking us questions.
He said, “I have not been able to forget your words when we talked, when
you shared with me how you came to follow, know, and live for G0d.” His
hunger was so great and his desire to know how to live as a Chr!st!an
was uncontainable. That is when the supernatural Sp1r1t of G0d filled
the space we were sitting and talking with S0. Amazingly we were able to
understand all that S was saying to us, the questions he was asking, and
we were able to respond with words and sentences he understood. The
next day, I took him a French B!ble and a pair of reading glasses. We
sat to read from the book of John. After only a few verses, I knew that
he was figuring out the words but the meaning was nowhere in his mind or
heart. The LIGHT team brought with them several mp3 players with the
B@mbara New Testament on them. His hunger was so great and his desire to
know how to follow so deep, I could not hold back…the one I had been
listening to was in my purse so it became his that day. He immediately
started listening as well as looking at his French B!ble to understand
it. He began sharing with me things he was hearing and things that spoke
to him. If you remember, when we first began working on the street we
helped this man with a very bad wound on his leg. The wound is so bad it
continues to not heal, continues to get better then get worse. One of
the first things he recognized about J.s.s was “J.s.s healed many
people.” I love how G0d’s Word speaks to every person in the place where
we need him, long for him, and look for him.
Yesterday, our friend was able to meet us there to talk deeper with
S. He looked me in the eye and the first thing he said to me, “I do not
make this choice for toubabous(white people), for you, for D@n (our
friend), FOR ANYONE. I make this choice for GOD ONLY!” He continued,
“God has opened my eyes to see that there is only ONE way–G0d’s way to
salvation. I have tried other ways, but nothing. I want to give my life
to J.s.s. I want my wife and my children to know him and follow Him.”
With that we began to explain the difference between following J.s.s.
and the practices of !sl@m. It is all he knows so he had many questions
about how to “practice” Chr!sti@nity. You could watch relief come as he
began to understand a relationship with G0d instead of rules to follow.
Our friend O listened to all of this conversation even though she has
heard much of it before. S0 and O confessed
to G0d their belief in His Son J.s.s, their desire to give their lives
to Him, and f0ll0w Him. S0 asked us to pr@y for him, so I ask you to
join us in that. He knows there will be consequences to his
choice…there has already been pressure from others for him to not make
this choice, to not dishonor his father and mother. Please join us in
pr@ying with him for strength, courage, and faith to f0ll0w! This
morning he shared with O that he went home last night and told his wife.
She was excited for his decision and agreed with him to teach their two
sons the ways of J.s.s. She also wants to f0ll0w with him.
Would you join me and imagine the throne of heaven with people from
all nations, tribes, peoples, and languages around the throne of our
G0d? Would you give a shout and sing a song of pr@ise to our Father for
the work He is doing here in M@li? Would you ask Father to pour out His
Sp!r!t on S0, his wife, his sons, O, her daughter K, her son Yac and
teach them all to walk in His ways?
Kuma te…
no words only pr@ise….