Oneness and a Windy Ride

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.

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!

Godj (Well Rope)

The chief of Godj (Well Rope) has recently given us permission to story in his village. A couple of weeks ago I went riding on my motorcycle out towards the area we have been asked to target. My objectives were to get used to riding in the sand again and to see who I would meet and what the Lord might do. I was looking for one village in particular (called Lanta) where I had already met one man, but that was only one village. Besides, they have yet to connect me with the village chief there.

I suited up in my riding clothes (due largely to the fact that I didn’t know where I was going and I had no idea what I might meet up with) complete with riding boots, etc. I found Lanta and stopped to ask if my acquaintance was there or the village chief, but neither were there that day. Then I kept riding and rode through a couple of villages before stopping at a meeting place just off the main road (wide sand track for horse carts and missionaries on motorcycles). There were a lot of men there so I stopped and talked. We all shared the same last name (N’diaye). As I chatted with them they all invited me to lunch. I would finish in one place when someone else would call and invite me to lunch. (I only ate once…)

I stuck with the guy that first invited me to lunch and met his family. He ended up giving me like 8 kilos of peanuts. I described the house to them all and one day last week one of them showed up at my house to greet me. I told him further what I wanted to do and told him that I would go there on Tuesday to talk to the village chief.

I showed up and met with the village chief and we talked about what I want to do. I told him that what I want to do has two sides. One side is to see how we can seek to help them in their physical life. But that side is not enough. I told him that even if I was able to put billions in helping the village, unless God blessed the village, it wouldn’t help. That is the other side of what I want to do there and it’s so much more important. That is to seek to help them know God deeply. I told him I would do this by teaching the first books of God (Old and New testaments). He was agreeable! So, the Lord willing, we will start there when they are completely finished with the harvest.

Pray that God gives us wisdom about how we can proceed with the physical help and how we should do this in a way that would be harmonious with the Gospel and what we desire to do in that vein. Pray, too, that God would open the door to Lanta and other villages. Thanks!