Grace and the Globe

A few years back, a book entitled “What Is So Amazing About Grace” came out by Philip Yancey.  In the West, we have no lack of discussion, teaching, preaching and literature about grace (not necessarily a bad thing).  The point is that grace may not be so amazing to us because the level of contrast with that of a religion like Islam that teaches a doctrine of works based salvation (eternity) is not very strong.  I am not wishing for our country to go away from Christ in order that we can see grace in a sharper contrast.  What I am saying is that it is helpful to be placed into environments that will allow you to contrast the grace of Christ with the backdrop of ideologies that are very non-grace.  Context, perspective and contrast are benefits of being engaged internationally at some level; not to mention the unending joy of seeing Christ in the eyes of someone who has never heard about him.

The guy pictured above is a guy who heard about Jesus of the Bible for the first time a couple of weeks ago in Nigeria after he asked us if we would teach him.  He couldn’t sleep all night…the contrast between grace and the law was spinning his mind.  What a thrill.

Micro-Finance…taking care of the widows

In Nigeria, I had the privilege of doing a small teaching/training session for a widows group about a micro-finance project that Brad Starns is spearheading.  This is a project that will allow these ladies to take small loans within the accountability of a small group.  The interest from the loans will then be re-invested within the group for future savings and/or future loans.  What happens if they default?  That’s just it…they rarely do.

Isaiah and James are clear that our responsibility in placing our lives under the God of Jesus is to take care of the orphans and widows.  Kudos to Brad (and others) for following that responsibility with passion and innovation.

sb

Pictures

Here are a few pictures from last week in Nigeria…enjoy.

Raye

In walks this 30-something year old single guy in a three piece suit.  I guess it wasn’t completely out of the question for a man to wear a three piece to a Baptist church…but it was a bit out of place.  He came back again the next week, and the next, and the next.  He started to build some friendships in the singles group, he was hungry to learn about God and all things related, he had tons of questions; many that lack clear answers.  Then he gravity hit; his story came out on a Sunday morning at this Baptist church that he had quietly become a part of.

Turns out Raye grew up in a home that relocated just about every year for 18 years.  Turns out that Raye’s brother was murdered by a couple of guys who thought that he was going to snitch on them.  Turns out Raye has tried things that most people would run from.  Turns out that any mail that Raye received, for 5 1/2 years of his life, had to run through a prison warden before it was delivered to his cell because of an “attempted assault with a deadly weapon” (he was driving drunk and hit another car that injured another person…his sentencing was the first of its kind in the state of Texas).  Turns out that Raye was transformed in prison.

Now it has turned out, that after a few trips to Nigeria, Raye decided to raise money (without going through a mission agency) and go live in Nigeria where he leads trips of people who want to engage in Nigeria, leads a prison ministry (video below) and spends loads of time with local Nigerian boys who have been left without parents.

Turns out that God in fact can and does provide second, third, fourth and sixtieth chances.  I am happy that Raye is my friend and that Raye is teaching Ashley and Iwhat it means to truly be fearless in his relationship with Christ.  Thank you Raye.

If you want to see more of Raye’s story, go to www.rayeelerson.com.

Prayer Team

We had a full schedule of people praying for us while Nigeria and I must say that we were overwhelmed.  Some of the people that we have spoken with said that there were certain times during the week where they just had a sense of, “I need to pray for the guys right now”.  Once we found out the general times that it happened, we usually were able to trace it back to a time in Nigeria where something meaningful was happening…no surprise, but still very cool.

For those of you who prayed, thank you.  Hopefully you experienced some the thrill that we experienced, and hopefully it has increased your communication with God.

By the way…the attached picture is the internet cafe that we were able to use in Egbe.

Back on the ground in Washington, about to take off for final leg back home. Can’t wait to see Ashley and my monkeys.

More blog tomorrow, tonight we visit and sleep!

Dinner with High Imams

We went to get some clothes made from one of our friends who is a tailor (not a taylor, like Gerrick…but a tailor who sews clothes). He is Muslim and told us that the group discussions that we have been having with them this week, both at the Mosque and in his home last night, have never happened (on record) within the town of Egbe. I was very sobered by that thought. Last night, we were able to go to the local street market, purchase some meat (ram), fruit (bananas and oranges) and cold minerals (coke, sprite, etc.); then take that in the pouring rain to the tailor’s home where we discussed with the tailor, another friend and then two high Imams and a Malam (literate Muslim). Much of our discussion was casual and interesting about life, family and cultural differences. One of the Imams then launched the spiritual/religious questions which led us into a much lengthier discussion.

The goal of the meeting was to build our relationship with local Muslims to create a dialogue.  There has been a lot of fighting between Christians and Muslims in the northern part of Nigeria, and we want to open dialogue here so that frustrations and propaganda can take place while sharing food and not while slinging machete’s. 

This meeting last night was a sharp contrast to our night before out in the bush where the men of the camp were eager to learn about the God of Jesus and how they see it to eternity with Allah; whereas these men last night were more interested in cultural differences, and trying to figure out our “strategy” for introducing others to the God of Jesus.  Bottom line, we are just trying to live our strategy by serving others and providing introduction to the God of Jesus then that comes up in our discussion.  For those who think that is too passive…come out here; they will ask at some point when a dialogue and trust have been established.

Michael and I are both very emotionally and mentally spent…and it is oddly refreshing.  Those of you reading this, you ready to come on over?  There is no way that I can tell you exactly what to expect; but I think that is the point.

Although a bit presumptuous, I hope that the God of Jesus has enjoyed us as much as we have enjoyed watching/experiencing him this week.  May he continue to do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all that we can ask or think. 

Brad Starns, I met with 45 widows this morning (it was supposed to be 5) to discuss your micro-finance plans.  Get ready with the details brotha b/c they are.

The rest of the day will be spent mingling about the streets and markets of Egbe, treking the top of the Egbe hill to sit quietly for a bit, saying some final goodbye’s to our friends and preping for a day of road travel tomorrow back to Abuja, where we will depart by plane tomorrow. 

Prayer team, traveling these roads are a challenge, so pray for a good travel day tomorrow please.  You all have powered this trip through your paryer and I am moved by it…really.  This may be my last blog in Nigeria (already?..that was too fast).  I will try and write somemore in the coming days.

peace

Another busy day

Here is an entry from my journal on Tuesday…
“Was a very busy day yesterday. We began at the internet cafe blogging and communicating back home. Then we got a cold Fanta from one of the only coolers in town, and took off for Okoloke and the bush. During the afternoon we sat and spent some hours w/ Abraham and Babangida separately about their ministry, their spiritual growth, and their vision…
We then went out to the bush at Al Haji Sali’s cam to visit and spend the evening discussing life, family, Islam and Jesus. He explained that the Q’uran and the Bible are similar on so many issues excet the role of Nabi Isa (Jesus). He asked us what we think of the Muslim teaching that moral/upright people will go to heaven and the rest will go to the fire. I have him an illustration that proposed Allah as the judge, and yet coming off of the “bench” to pay for our penalty with his life. That story really resonated with our friends. This explained the New Testament teachings that we are pardoned/purchased by grace and in no way that would allow room for arrogance.
It is Ramadan, so the food was not as extensive as our other visits to the camps (they are fasting throughout the day), but the hospitality was nonetheless still first class eating some fresh yogurt and tree soup. We slet in a new guest hut that the Al Haji built for us and awoke to the sound of the Islamic call to worship around 430 this morning…every morning. Al Haji then came in later to tell us that his heart was very full b/c we stayed in his hut. We mingled about with the women and children while the men went into town to politic. We then left to head back to Egbe in a torrential rain storm with Raye driving, and Michael and I under a tarp/tent in the back of the truck.
Arriving in Egbe, the internet cafe was down so we went back to the Orphanage where Babangida and I spent another hour together discussing some opportunities and issues facing he and his ministry out in the bush. “

This trip so far has been a bit overwhelming…I have never had this kind of access to our Muslim friends before. I will blog more tomorrow about a unbelievable second night in the bush where something happened to me for the first time in my life. For those on you on the prayer team, all cliches aside, your praying is laying the foundation for our discussions…please do not stop.

Tonight, Michael, Raye, Babangida and I have the honor of eating dinner at the homes of some of the local Imams. Please pray. Thanks!

More than we can ask or think

Ashley gave a great update last night as to our day yesterday. Since our coming to Nigeria over the past three years, we have been working diligently to build some infrastructure for the local communities in order to provide things that will serve them. The issue that we have been serious about is our desire to employ locals to run these infrastructures (hospital, school, orphanage and bore holes).  This has infused capital in the local economy and shown our desire to build relationship with local tribes (Christian, Muslim and Animists).

The last few months, we have been asking ourselves the rhetorical question of “when are we going to begin to introduce people to the God of Jesus that we follow?  Are these people ready to have that dialogue?”  Our answer was “yes” yesterday.  I asked Babangida (who grew up as a devout Muslim and now follows the God of Jesus, and has unbelievable relationships with the local and bush Muslims) if we could setup a meeting with a couple of local Imams to begin a dialogue and build friendships since we continue to return to this location whenever we come to Nigeria.  He said that he would try to put something together.  We showed up at the central Mosque and Ashley described the rest.  We were overwhelmed and humbled…these guys (all guys) not only know their Q’uran…they know the Bible too.  We had a 2.5 hour discussion that was passionate and honest through two separate linguistic interpreters.

We had a long discussion with Babangida afterwards (I wished I would have recorded it) and he said that sort of meeting has never happened before and is definately the beginning of something that will be meaningful and long term.  You see, the HELP infrastructure and work that has been ongoing over the past years has impacted this local community to the point that the Northern Muslims have now sent 150 Muslim missionaries to Egbe and the surrounding bush…yes, 150.  They are serious about maintaining their presence here.  Do I need to provide you something to pray for?  Nope…you should be able to see it.

We’re having a blast and are about to hop in the back of the truck to head out to the bush for the next couple of days.  Pray that Michael’s head doesn’t chap!

Thanks for praying and partnering with this work…we’ll try and post again soon.

Sunday Update

Hi Friends-  It’s Ashley, giving an update from Scott along with some other info that you will hopefully find interesting.

I woke up this morning feeling uneasy in my spirit, not something that I could put my finger on exactly, just somewhat oppressed and burdened. The feeling stuck with me for most of the day and when I received a call from Scott this afternoon, I just burst into tears.  I explained my feeling and he told me he thought he might know why and began to tell about the amazing morning he had in Egbe this morning.  He told of the powerful worship service at the Hausa speaking church, how he was able to share a brief word that lined up so consistently with Michael’s teaching and then of the prayer time afterward that was filled with confession, praise, and thanksgiving.

He then went on to describe an unprecedented meeting that they were able to have at a mosque with 80-90 Islamic men.  After the discussion, the men asked if our guys were ready to convert to Islam and Scott replied no, but wanted to continue building a relationship with them and continue the conversation.  They are planning to have dinner together with 4 or 5 Islamic men on Wednesday.  This is HUGE!!!  The weighty feeling I had was the enemy trying to distract and confuse me while across the pond, the Holy Spirit was/is moving in a real way.  The groundwork has been laid with the building of the school, orphanage, and guest house, along with the hospital work, and now the gospel is beginning to take root in this area of the world.  The enemy wants no part of this!

Things to pray for:

In the coming days, the guys along with Pastor Babangida will be traveling to two different Fulani bush camps where they will be building relationships and sharing the good news of Jesus.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide and protect them.

Please pray for us (the kids and I, along with Karrie and her girls) that our homes will be peaceful and that we will experience Jesus as our Heavenly Bridegroom and Heavenly Father while Scott and Michael are away.

That Jesus Christ will be high and lifted up through this trip both in Nigeria and here at home!!!

Here is a link for more information about the Fulani:  http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php

Thank you so much for your prayers, and friendship!