We will not continue to suffer and hurt!

Last Sunday we had an amazing experience in which once again the Lord taught us something very challenging through one of our Rwandan friends. This is actually something that we have become increasingly aware of. [Please see the blog entitled "Whether you and I want to admit it or not!" to follow more of what the Lord has been teaching us in this aspect of our lives!]

So as we were singing praise songs at the beginning of the worship service, Mama Mutesi* came forward and starting leading us in a very simple song that says "Ntabwo tuzongera kubabara" or "We will not continue to suffer/hurt!"

Let me pause for a moment to tell you about Mama Mutesi, she is a wonderfully cheerful lady who is a member of the Murinja Friends Church (one of the churches we are working in with D for D). Almost 2 months ago, Mama Mutesi's oldest child, a daughter about 18 years old, died after fighting for many years with various complications of a diseased heart. In the past 4 or 5 years, they were constantly at the hospital, seeing different doctors, trying to find medicine, etc. This has been a major part of Mama Mutesi's life for these last years and after all of that working and fighting, her daughter died. In a week and a half, this small church of Murinja lost 4 people to death. Two children died unexpectedly and an older man died, as well as Mama Mutesi's daughter.

As Mama Mutesi came forward on Sunday, she was dancing with absolute joy, exuberantly claiming and proclaiming the promise that "We will not continue to suffer and hurt!" Her face was radiating with the joy of the Lord, her smile was absolutely contagious and I found myself smiling uncontrollably. I remembered Moses' radiance after coming down from being on the mountain with God. I was overwhelmed with the incredible hope we have in Jesus! As Mama Mutesi was singing at the top of her lungs and dancing a beautiful dance of joy, she led all of us into one of the most exciting, Spirit-filled times of worship that I have ever experienced.

In Hebrews 2:14-15, it says, "Because God's children are human beings--made of flesh and blood--Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying." Mama Mutesi showed all of us that day that she has been absolutely delivered from slavery to the fear of dying. She is looking forward with anticipation the day in which she will see the Lord's promises in Revelation come completely true!

Revelation 21:4 "He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever."

AND

Revelation 22:3-4 "No longer will anything be cursed. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads."

In D for D, we are working with the Lord to emphasize the truth that He wants to transform our lives today and that we are supposed to pray and work toward His kingdom coming and His will being done on earth on it is as heaven. In Rwanda, this is a very important message, because the emphasis is almost always on heaven, that all of our problems will go away when we get to heaven.

We were deeply struck by the opposite truth taught to us by our Rwandan friends on Sunday; Difficulties, pain, and death is a normal part of this life and our hope is in Jesus for our future home in heaven.

So you see, we need each other. We need our Rwandan friends to remind us that we are only here temporarily and that our home and hope is in heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord and King! And our Rwandan friends need to hear the other side, that the Lord is and wants to building His Kingdom in and through us, here and now!

*In Rwanda, parents are often known as Mama or Papa so-and-so (the name of one of their children). Example: my parents could be called Papa Brad and Mama Brad. Often, we don't know the name of parents, we just know them by their children's name.

Whether you and I want to admit it or not!

Whether you and I want to admit it or not, as Americans our tendency when it comes to people from other cultures and traditions is that we usually think that we are better. We think we could teach them a lot about life and how God really wants us to live, worship Him, raise children, eat food, etc.

The Lord has been confronting this pride within us and challenging us to learn from our brothers and sisters in Rwanda! Yes, there are some things that the Lord might want to use us to teach them, but likewise there are some things that He wants to teach us through them!

We all have different perspectives based upon our worldviews, culture, experiences, personalities, passions, gifting, etc, that shape the way that we see life, how we interpret Scripture, and how we incorporate our faith into our lives. God is a magnificent and creative God who created the numerous languages and cultures among the many diverse people groups on Earth. The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization states that “Because man is God’s creature, some of his culture is rich in beauty and goodness. Because he is fallen, all of it is tainted with sin and some of it is demonic.”(Perspectives: Chapter 71, "The Willowbank Report: The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, P. 483.)

If we were are all sitting in a circle around a globe each of us will have a slightly different perspective of the globe. There are parts of the globe that you would see that I would not be able to see. And others would see parts of the globe that you and I both cannot see. But if we could gain perspective from each other, we would be able to see or understand more clearly what the globe looks like.

It is my belief that every culture has a somewhat different and unique perspective on God and Scripture, and that if all of these correct perspectives could be put together, we would see and understand God, His glory, and His universal plan and purpose more completely. Although He is far beyond our comprehension and we will never fully understand Him, His ways, or His thoughts – Isaiah 55: 8-9! I think that this, working together, could empower our churches to be more of what God desires them to be. Also because of culture, we all have blind spots (areas that are distorted by our culture) when we interpret the Bible, which distorts the beauty of the way we live out God’s will in our lives and the Church.

May the Lord help each of us to be willing and ready to learn from people around us who have a different perspective so that we might more fully live in the Lord's plan and will for our lives. May His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven!