ROKBOP UPDATE: Sorry its taken me so long. In Gods mercy we have an unexpected day of rest instead of going to Kabala (another 4 hour journey) while the van is being repaired. I think I needed a day to soak everything in. Why do I take the time to give you long updates with flowery words. I feel its a call and responsibility God has given me. Because of this wanted to update you about Rokbob as soon as possible. For your joy and Gods glory! But every time I tried I had no words. I just cried. I cried because of His mercy. I cried because I feel so unworthy to serve a God who goes to the one in the most remote, forgotten places and brings light in the darkness. I cried because even after Jesus Christ is revealed and our blind eyes are opened to Him as Savior the attack of our spiritual enemy comes. The thief comes in to destroy our faith and we are helpless in our own strength. We are rendered powerless by our sin. BUT even in the long silence He is fighting for us. The moment the church is burned and torn down by the enemy He is already rebuilding it in the places unseen by us. When He opens our eyes once again to see the work He has been doing all along we are more determined than before to stand firm in His Spirit and fight with His power! We see the reality that He has overcome! The lies of the enemy are replaced by Truth and He rescues us once again from our sin and disbelief. When we lose our way and turn back to useless idols during the long silence He doesnt leave us like sheep without a shepherd. He comes to us and leads us back to the Truth. Like little children He keeps coming to us, training us, disciplining us, showing us the way, feeding us with manna from heaven. Keep this in mind amidst the details... In 2008 Rokbob was a remote, un-reached village who had not had never had missionaries visit. Driving to Rokbop after I had visited so many years ago I had tears streaming down my face. I kept asking The Lord why? Why were going to all this trouble? Why do we keep going back to these people with our small offerings? Is this really making a difference? I had an onslaught of doubt. Awwwww but He wiped it all away the moment we stepped foot in that place! I will share the testimony that one of the elders of the village shared with us yesterday. In 2008 the chiefs brother fell and went into a coma. An illiterate Christian widow from Freetown made her way to Rokbop and asked to pray for him. The villagers had prayed all their Muslim prayers and nothing. So they granted her request out of desperation. God sent this widow and she opened the bible and read Scriptures and prayed for some time over the man. Suddenly he became conscious, sat up and ate food she prepared. The chief was amazed and said to everyone that Jesus was the true, living God! Missionaries heard this testimony and visited the village. After visiting they had a church built that same year. The Muslims in the surrounding villages began fighting them because of it. They would mock them and say Surely nothing good could come out of Rokbop. The people of Rokbop were sharing water with surrounding villages in the Name of Christ. All of these things angered the Muslims in their community. Finally in 2011 their enemies burned down the church and destroyed their well. The church ruins are all that remain today. One Saturday morning Jerome knelt down in our bathroom during a private worship time. The Lord showed him to go to Africa. I had been several times at this point but he had not yet gone. God showed him in particular to go to these people in Rokbop and encourage them. He impressed on him to fix their well and preach Jesus as the Living Water. Jerome had no desire to go to Africa before this. But that following march Komeo sent a team of missionaries to do a medical clinic, fix the well at Rokbop and encourage the remaining believers there in obedience to the call. God loved these people so much that He moved on an American mans heart who was knelt down in a bathroom singing songs of worship. He led a man who had never left his home country to raise $3,000 and leave his wife and 6 children to travel 5,000 miles by plane and drive 4 hours by car and cross a river in a canoe just to meet their physical needs and tell them personally in a language they didnt know that Jesus had not forgotten them. THIS IS OUR GOD! The short and long term missionary is a picture of the gospel. Its never a waste of time or resources for a missionary to obey Gods call to go. Obedience to the call always displays the gospel! To get to Rokbob you have to travel 4 hours from Freetown on undeveloped roads and then take a canoe across a river to get to the village that is nestled in the jungle. It is the most beautiful place you have ever seen. There are lush, bright green rice fields all around! This time the roads had been more developed. There was still no bridge to cross the river and the church still stood in ruins. But as this elderly man gave his testimony to us a young man full of zeal started speaking boldly to us in Temne along with him. Even though I couldnt understand this young man with out the pastors interpreting, I knew Gods Spirit was leading His words. He told us they were determined to have the church rebuilt and were prepared to defend it this time. The persecution had emboldened them to stand their ground and not let the enemy have it. We worshipped with them. We gave them rice, medicine for their local bush hospital and then something most precious of all. We gave them a proclaimer that has the entire bible in Temne. Its loud enough for their whole village to hear it at once. Its charged by solar power. We taught them how to use it and watched their excitement as the heard it for the first time! I pictured them sitting day after day in the ruins of this church hearing His Word ring out long after we are gone. I pictured it leading them to worship. I pictured it strengthening them. I pictured them being encouraged that something good could come out of Rokbop! I pictured them rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be persecuted in the same way that Jesus was! The mercy of our God takes the weak, the defeated, the oppressed and makes them strong and able to fight with the Sword of His Spirit in their spiritual hands! Jerome told these precious ones that God sees them and that He will keep coming to them. He encouraged them to keep calling on the Name of Jesus and not to give up! We left that place knowing that the little bit of rice, medicine and encouragement given in faith would be multiplied in the hands of our great God! As a unified, little group we believed God would use that offering, His Word and our obedience to do something bigger than our eyes will ever be able to see. As we crossed the bridge and were driving away our van overheated. Pastor Bull laughed and said, this happens anytime you are doing the work of God. Yes! We rejoice in every hardship that comes when we are doing His will. We can laugh because the light and momentary trouble of broken down vans does not compare with the glory of eternities being changed! I feel so overwhelmed by the mercy of our God. I dont have to look beyond 5 minutes ago to search for glaring sin in my thoughts. And some sin is so grievous I wonder how He could ever use me to do anything of eternal value. But I offer my life once again. I ask for His glory to be revealed to others thru me once again. I trust once again in the Treasure that lives in this broken, jar of clay. Lord, rebuild me. Rebuild us. Rebuild the church at Rokbob. Pour out mercy on our lives so that everyone sees that you are the one, TRUE, LIVING GOD. We want you to be glorified in all the earth and we want you be glorified THROUGH US! May our hearts ALWAYS SING I LOVE YOU! And may our lives shout out this message even louder than our words! May we live to tell others of His marvelous deeds!!!! May ALL that we are be for the glory of HIS GREAT NAME! Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. (Isaiah 58:12 NIV)
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 12:09:52 +0000
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