Saved in Swahili

When I was in Bungoma, Kenya last December I was able to attend a children’s revival. While there a little girl named Cynthia decided to attach herself to me and lead me through the worship time (which was mostly in Swahili). She told me when I was supposed to bow my head and close my eyes, when to raise both my hands and when to raise just one. At one point she grabbed me by the arm and lead me towards some adults who were standing beside the stage. I asked her what we were going to do and she very happily replied, “We’re going to ask Jesus into us!”

“Have you done that before?” I responded.

“Oh yes!” was her exuberant reply.

Unable to help myself, I planted a small nugget of doctrine, “Then He’s already in you.”

Cynthia just smiled, nodded and kept leading me to the people who were registering the conversions. At that moment I realized that this was her liturgy.  She came to events like these, sang songs, listened to preachers, and followed the leaders as they instructed on how to receive Christ.  Her heart was to honor and love God, so she followed what was expected of her by her Christian elders.  It’s exactly what I did as a child – just a much different order of worship.  I wanted to please God so I imitated the way the church around me worshiped.  God used and is still using that foundation and childhood desire to shape me.  So to honor Cynthia’s heartfelt worship and the continuing work of God in her life I had my name registered right below hers.

But worship was not yet finished.  We needed to respond to asking Jesus into us.  Still smiling, and even more excited, Cynthia instructed me in the next element of worship, which seemed profoundly appropriate: “Now, we dance!”

A chance to belong to some Congolese women and children in need.

My friends at Zion Project just put out this request.  Please pray over it and respond as you feel led.  Every little bit helps.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!

46 Congolese refugee girls along with their babies and children have been evicted from their homes in Uganda and are on the street.

ZP has been working with them for a month, loving them and sharing with them about how much Jesus loves them. They have decided to leave their lives of prostitution which they were only involved in for survival. Read more at http://www.saritahartz.com

We found a home to put them in so they can start a new life, but we need $1,600 by tomorrow just to pay the rent for 6 months. Maybe you watch the news and wonder what you can do: You can directly affect someone else’s life in Africa right now. Please give to Zion Project: either at http://www.zionproject.org and indicate “Congolese” or send a check to P.O. Box 321 Quinque, VA 22965.

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UPDATE:I got this e-mail from the stateside coordinator for Zion Project.  Praise God for His provision.

Dear Supporters,

THANK YOU so much for your quick response to the needs of the Congolese girls who are in Gulu, Uganda!!! Praise GOD!!!! We were able to secure a home for them for six months and on Thursday were able to move in 10 girls and their 11 children. We are working on making room for another 10 girls, and helping the other girls to find housing. So far they are doing great! Miriam, an Acholi woman who is very well educated and has been teaching our girls at the Zion House to make beads has moved in with the Congolese girls as their house mother and has already begun doing devotionals with them, and teaching them. The Lord has truly worked it all out for us!

The home is in need of work and we still need to get some beds and other essentials for the house. We are so grateful to all of you for your abundant generosity towards the girls, we do have a bit extra to help with these expenses, but as we have expanded so rapidly, we are in need of more monthly supporters so we can be sure the girls on going needs will be met while they are staying with us. Please be in prayer about becoming a monthly donor.

I just spoke with Sarita, who is at the Awer IDP camp today expanding our photography exhibit. She is working with the girls who attend our support group and two photographers who are teaching the girls to use the cameras. The exhibit will also feature photos done by the Congolese girls in their new home. Stay tuned to the website for more information on the additions to the exhibit. And feel free to contact me if you are interested in bringing the exhibit to your town.

Thank you again for all of your support and love. We are overjoyed that God has yet again provided away for us to care for these girls! Sarita sends her love and thanks as well (the internet has been down in Gulu for three days now). Please continue to pray for Sarita and all of the girls in Gulu as well as for our volunteers and staff state-side.

May the Lord increase your blessings as you have blessed these girls, not only with a home but with hope for a future!

Injustice and the innocence of Christ

I was doing some heavy thinking about justice recently.  Very quickly it turned into wrestling with God in an attempt to come to grips with the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice and the existence of gross injustices against children.  The prophecy about Christ that says he will not rest until justice is established on the earth (Is. 42:4) gave me a foundation of hope – knowing that his justice will not cease to expand until it reaches completion.  Still, it was really hard for me to swallow that God, who suffered so much to conquer sin and death, would allow such great violations against those we would consider most innocent.

I believe some of the darkness in our world today is because of Christians who hold on to things that Christ purchased on the cross.  But this didn’t seem like one of those areas. If Christ’s sacrifice provided victory over Satan, then why would Jesus allow evil to reign in a way that harms his precious ones?  I could deal with injustices against Christians – we should expect that.  I could even deal with injustice where Christ’s body had yet to reach.  But hearing of places where Christ’s body was reaching into darkness, speaking light, and crying out for justice, and yet where it seemed that darkness continued unabated – that wrecked me for a few days.

Then a thought came to me that resolved nothing but put my heart at peace.  Jesus was and is by his very nature innocent.  For some reason that truth brought rest to my spirit.  It gave me peace to realize that the crucifixion was not only unjust in that Christ was innocent of the crimes that were used to take him to trial.  The reality of Jesus’ sacrifice was that it is the greatest injustice the world has ever and will ever see.  Not because it was a perversion of the justice system of the day but because his nature was without sin.  There was no sinful carryover from his fathers, no predisposition towards depravity, no inclination towards evil, and not even a hint of corruption in his spirit.   He was more innocent than an infant.  Perhaps my peace came from understanding that even though many children are still victims of unspeakable acts, Christ’s compassion for them is greater than my own because his violation was deeper even than theirs.

Born of the Spirit

“To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda or even in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery: it means to live in such a way that one’s life would not make sense if God did not exist.”

- Cardinal Suhard