Well, so much for the hopes of trying to post each week. Sorry. Life will eventually get to a routine, I hope! So here are some experiences that I’ve had recently and wanted to post here.
“So I hope you were not too scared on the road today,” I commented to a Wolof brother as we pulled off our helmets. He had ridden on the back of my motorcycle out to the village where he and another Wolof brother meet for mutual encouragement in the word and prayer. “Well,” he said pausing, “there were times when I was definitely scared. I thought the wind might blow the bike off the road!” I chuckled and said that probably wouldn’t happen here in Senegal, though it truly was a windy day. I had to lean into the wind a bit to keep the bike straight.
“So I hope you were not too scared on the road today,” I commented to a Wolof brother as we pulled off our helmets. He had ridden on the back of my motorcycle out to the village where he and another Wolof brother meet for mutual encouragement in the word and prayer. “Well,” he said pausing, “there were times when I was definitely scared. I thought the wind might blow the bike off the road!” I chuckled and said that probably wouldn’t happen here in Senegal, though it truly was a windy day. I had to lean into the wind a bit to keep the bike straight.
I told him the story of the night in the US when I rode home in a storm, scared to death at times when tree limbs went blowing by me in the wind. I found out when I got home that night that there were tornados that touched down all around me. In spite of it being flatter than western Kansas, Senegal doesn’t see many tornados.
What a joy it was to share the word together. We were in John 17:20-26. True to form though, I was teaching and we only got through the first three verses. We just got too excited about Jesus praying for us! Not only that He prayed for us, but also that He prayed that we would be one. “What does that mean?” I asked. They both looked at each other for a few moments as they contemplated the question. Then one of the men said, “If I cut my finger or my toe, my whole body feels it.” Inside I was doing summersaults! “Exactly!” I said and then directed them to 1 Cor. 12:12-31.
“Do we experience this day-to-day?” A very important question! For as we live out the truth that we are members one of another, this is how the world will understand that Jesus was sent by God.
We then went to Eph. 5:31. I taught them the principle that God gave us marriage as an example of this “oneness” or unity. Thus, in our marriages we must emulate this “oneness”. The realization of Jesus’ prayer that we would be "one" must start with our wives. We all compared notes of failure and success on this issue.
As we asked ourselves gathered together in a simple mud hut, so I ask you, “When was the last time that your brother finger was cut or your brother toe was stubbed and you felt it?” We are one. We are the Body of Christ. No one should suffer alone.
Pray for us as settling in is taking MUCH longer than we had anticipated. Thanks!
