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Africa Devotions, the Eternal versus the Long View

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That sound funny, doesn’t it—aren’t “long-term” and “eternal” similar? No. When we say “long-term,” we generally mean the next few months, a five-year plan, a decade. We like to ask questions like this: “So what do see yourself doing in four years?”

But we only have two times assured to us. One is eternity. The other is now. We have no idea if tomorrow brings success or catastrophe. We have no control. When we truly recognize this, we realize we have to follow God step by step. We have to loosely hold any plans we make. When we hold our futures with clenched fists, we fall into one of two traps: worry or a false sense of control.

Neither of those is trust.

 

I don't know how clearly you can read this poster--which I found in the hallway at a girls' rehabilitation school in Kenya--but it sure helps me to realize that a lot of my "first world" problems aren't really problems at all.

I don’t know how clearly you can read this poster–which I found in the hallway at a girls’ rehabilitation school in Kenya–but it sure helps me to gain perspective on many of my “problems.”

Questions for thought/discussion:

  1. Katie’s plans for college fell apart, but what was far harder was when she and her boyfriend broke off their relationship. How do we trust God for things so close to our hearts? Read her journal on pages 227-230 and reflect.
  2. How does being Spirit-led fit into this?
  3. Jesus said this in Luke 14:26: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” Then read pages XX and XXI in the introduction to Katie’s book. How does Katie’s story shed light on this verse?
  4. What happens when we ask for “more than we can handle” in our everyday lives? (See page 135). Is this a prayer of release? What happens when we pray like this for our everyday, “ordinary” lives?

 

The Eternal View

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This little one fell asleep in Molly's arms. When I think about how many children never know this sense of safety...

This little one fell asleep in Molly’s arms. When I think about how many children never know this sense of safety…

Katie has seen more people die than many Americans do in an entire lifetime. She knows that for every person she is able to help, there are hundreds more in similar conditions. All of this has given her an eternal perspective. She says this on page 192: “I may never see the end of horrendous situations on this earth, so instead of trying to fix the situations here and now, I will focus on helping these people come to heaven with me, so we may say together: ‘Death and sadness have been swallowed up in a victory.’ … Christ has overcome the mess that is in this world and I am humbled to get to witness His salvation on a daily basis.”

It is easy to focus on the physical needs of the people we see, but many have the same ultimate hope we have—and they often have a better grasp on it because they don’t have a whole lot to hold onto here on earth. They sing more about heaven than we do because they truly would be glad to trade this life for that! (Sometimes we’re not so sure!)

Remember that Christ saves for eternity. Providing physical necessities is GOOD—and we should do it—but it’s worth very little if it doesn’t open doors for the Gospel that reaches beyond death and gives LIFE that never ends.

 

Side note: Some of you may be feeling that your sense of “home” is being disrupted on this trip. In some ways, this is good. God wants to prepare our hearts for our true home, and part of this process is making us dissatisfied with belonging here on earth. He wants us to long for our home with Him, where all His beauty, righteousness, justice, and love are revealed in full glory.

 

Questions for thought/discussion:

  1. Spend some time thanking God for His eternal gifts—things that will last forever.
  2. Have you heard your Ugandan friends talk about heaven? Maybe in church? How was it different than the ways we talk about heaven?
  3. The Gospel doesn’t only provide us with an eternity spent with God, it also has the power to transform us NOW. Has any African told you their transformation story? How are YOU being transformed by the Gospel? (remember there is no “small” or “big” in God’s eyes)
  4. The long view also encompasses the ability to look past creature comforts and the years of this life to an eternal perspective. How can we live for eternity—not just on this trip but in our at-home lives as well?
  5. We long to “belong” with people. As Christ draws us closer to Himself, we will find our hearts drawn to others who are also nestling close to His heart. When all the members of Christ are joined completely in heaven, we will know belonging as we never knew it here on earth. Have you ever felt a hint of that kind of kinship with someone?

Africa Devos: The Diversity of God’s Callings

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We cannot rank the work God calls different believers to do. It’s easy to put Katie Davis and people like her on a pedestal, but when we do this we diminish what others are called to. Watch fellow believers around you today (especially your team members). Some of them are particularly gifted to meet new people, to reach out to others no matter what they look like or how clean—or not—they are. This meeting and greeting actually brings joy to people gifted in this area.

Others of you are gifted at processing what we are experiencing. You pray and think through how we can apply what we are learning to our lives back in the U.S. You help others to process.

Some are great advocates. You already have plans for sharing what you’ve seen here with friends at home and spurring them on to give and be involved.

Encourage and celebrate this diversity of gifts. Don’t think of your particular gift as higher or lower than others’. We are ALL part of God’s plan—and we don’t control it. Don’t question how He has made you. Just lean into Him and what He has put before you right now—on this trip and at home. You will find that He has work planned for you that is tailor-made to use your unique gifts.

Questions for thought/discussion:

  1. How do you feel you are gifted in general?
  2. What do you feel are your roles right now in the particular stage of life you’re in?
  3. How can you recognize the gifts in others and then encourage others in their gifts?
  4. Read the last two paragraphs on page 108 of K from K. THAT is what God wants to do in each of us through our particular gifts.

Africa devos, cont.: BIG and small

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Aunt Josephine (right) and Suzanne (left) spend their days taking care of babies and toddlers. It probably doesn't feel very significant many days--but it IS. Thank you, dear ladies, for your selfless, redemptive work.

Aunt Josephine (right) and Suzanne (left) spend their days taking care of babies and toddlers. It probably doesn’t feel very significant many days–but it IS. Thank you, dear ladies, for your selfless, redemptive work.

On page 101 of K from K, Katie writes this: “Every day, we have a choice. We can stay nestled in our safe comfortable places. … Or we can take a risk, do something to help someone else, make a person smile, change someone’s world.”

God has used Katie to touch the lives of many, many people. We see this as ‘bigger.’ But no less of a calling is when God calls us to meet the needs of ONE! We see this example in Scripture. The shepherd went out in search of the one lost lamb. The widow swept her house top-to-bottom looking for the one lost coin. The angels rejoice over one lost sinner who turns to God. Do you feel overwhelmed by stories like Katie’s? Do you feel like there is no way you could do something like that? Are your “dreams” smaller? Maybe you’re supposed to care for “one.” Your life—with all its moments—has been planned for YOU, with your gifts and background in mind. Lean into the God who planned not only your life but YOU—and He will lead you into your BIG “calling” one step at a time.

Questions for thought/discussion:

  1. What do you think is “big” to God? Where does “big” start?
  2. Read Matthew 25:21, 23. How does that relate?
  3. On page 181 Katie hints at the fact that often this life of hers is not easy. Sometimes she may not even feel like it’s very fulfilling. It can be very tedious and repetitive. WE see redemption written all over Katie’s story, but sometimes she may wonder if she’s doing any good. Redemption doesn’t always “feel” purposeful or good. It’s often messy. Sometimes it feels like we are spinning our wheels. Ask God for glimpses of the bigger picture, for patience and endurance to continue till you catch a glimpse. Continue in the good work. Read page 204.
  4. Could it be that every moment has something “big” in it—we just miss it b/c we’re looking through the wrong eyes? He created every moment for a purpose, not just the ones we consider “big.” How is God using you now?

Africa devos: Desperation

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My daughter, Emily, and her friend, Rita, whom I have known since she was around four.

My daughter, Emily, and her friend, Rita, whom I have known since she was around four.

How do we learn to be desperate for God when we live in abundance? Katie Davis wrote that during her semester at college in the States, she missed this most of all—the constant recognition that she needs God. Perhaps on this trip, you are realizing you “need” Him more than usual—or at least you recognize your need more easily. Most Christians acknowledge that we cry out to God most fervently when they are going through difficulties and trials. Could this mean that Africans, in one way of looking at it, are more spiritually blessed? Think of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) and (if you have the book Kisses from Katie), read Katie’s words in pages 25-27.

Let me put a twist on this: though I “see” more physical need when I am in Africa (and that pushes me to pray and weep more), the spiritual need is just as great–perhaps greater–here in the United States. I meet almost no atheists in Africa. Many are not following Christ, but they DO believe in a powerful, Creator God. That is in great contrast with our spiritual culture in the U.S.

Many years ago I went on a trip to Argentina. One of the team members was a believer from Latin America. I was blown away with his ability to share Christ–lovingly, passionately, yet gently–with people he’d only just met, with people he’d approached on the street. “How do you do that?” I asked him.

“I see dead people,” he answered (this was well before The Sixth Sense came out, so he wasn’t trying to be funny).

He explained. “If I truly believe that people without Christ are dead–are separate from Christ–and will eventually spend eternity without Him–then my desperation for them increases. I see them as dying people–in as great a need as if they were bleeding or starving–and I am motivated by that to help them.”

If we could see spiritual need as if they were physical–like great gaping wounds or skin pulled tight with starvation–we would have greater desperation. We would see our own spiritual need–that without Christ, we, too, are in a state of decay.

 

Questions for thought/discussion:

  1. Read page 131-132 of K from K. How does this relate to Paul’s statement “When I am weak, then I am strong”?
  2. Is wealth a blessing or a curse?
  3. In what way is it potentially easier to depend on God in difficult circumstances or in places of physical need?
  4. How do we begin to understand and then see our spiritual needs as greater than physical needs?

Kisses from Katie, devos: Rich and Poor

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Shoes vs. Feet

Shoes vs. Feet

Rich and Poor

Jesus said, “You will always have poor among you.”

We know that we, as Americans, are among the richest people in the world. Much of the time we can ignore this uncomfortable truth: that while we live in plenty, others suffer and die from the lack of food, shelter, and medicine. But on a trip like this, we can ignore it no longer, and that is a good thing. God does not want us to live in ignorance of the needs of others. So what do we do with this tension?

Questions for thought/discussion

  1. What are our responsibilities for/to the poor?
  2. What do we “do” with the extravagance/materialism of our culture and the great need of people in places like Africa?
  3. How do we avoid giving out of guilt? What’s the “right” motivation for giving?
  4. What do we do with the argument that we have needy people in the U.S. and we should give to them first?
  5. How does contentment relate to this issue? What does contentment look like in our home culture? Not just being content in having less than some BUT in having more than others? Is there such a thing in being content in having more?
  6. How does God view our homes/our spaces/our stuff? Is sharing more difficult than giving outright?

Africa devotions, continued–finally

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Sorry for the delay. We were in Wisconsin for a week at a log cabin graciously offered by a former Wheaton Academy family to WA teachers for vacation use. Wonderful place–river on one side of the property, farmland (and I LOVE farmland) on the other–and good old dial-up Internet!

It was awesome. I was able to check/send e-mails for work, but I couldn’t get the “add new post” page on my blog to load. I buried my phone deep in my unused purse (Dave had his available), and thoroughly enjoyed the lack of constant communication.

Anyway, I’m back in suburbia (hopefully it won’t offend anyone if I say “bleh”), so I’m back to posting. Africa devotions, continued:

God’s Heart for Women and Children
When the disciples wanted to keep children from approaching Jesus, He (Jesus) became indignant (a polite word for “ticked”). (Read Mark 10:13-16).
We’ve become so used to this story, we’ve forgotten how shocking Jesus’ words and actions would have been to the people of his culture, which categorized children as lesser. Even his disciples—who’d spent quite a bit of time with Him by this point—were surprised.
Children and women have suffered in every culture and every age and are still suffering today. Often this happens with the complete support of organized religion. In Christ, God was clearly saying NO! My heart is for these little ones. Through the Law of the Old Testament, God had already SAID that He cared for the least: the laws that protected widows and orphans and strangers were very different from the laws of surrounding cultures. In the person of Christ, God SHOWED He cared for both women and children, for all those denied equality by society. Christ honored them with His words, stood up for them with His anger, and demonstrated His tenderness through His touch.
Questions for thought/discussion
1.     As you’ve watched and interacted with children, what have you learned is universal about them?
2.     How has your time with children helped you to understand how God wants you to approach Him?
3.     Are there any people you treat as less than equal?

Africa Devotions, cont.: Not “right/wrong,” just different

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These girls from Katanga LOVED the camera!

These girls from Katanga LOVED the camera!

One of the first lessons cross-cultural travelers need to learn is that cultural differences are not usually “right” or “wrong.” They are simply different. Every culture—including our own—has both “good” and “bad” things about it, “beauty” and “ugliness.” As we learn to break through cultural divisions through genuine friendship with people of other cultures, we will begin to more clearly see our own culture’s “beauty” and “ugliness.”

One of the hard parts of Kenyan and Ugandan culture is the number of street children and orphans. Another is the many children who die from preventable causes. These problems seem overwhelming.

But there is also beauty. Often the people who have absolutely nothing (especially by U.S. standards) welcome others into their homes and into their lives in extraordinary ways. They share in ways U.S. citizens find shocking. They embrace a different pace of life and a strong commitment to community, and they place much less value on appearances. In these same countries are people (like Mary and Wilfred) who love orphans and street kids with their whole hearts and do all they can to help them.

As Katie Davis (of Kisses from Katie) lived in Uganda, she began to have a more critical view of American culture, specifically of our materialism. (Read page 23 of K from K). When we (as U.S. citizens) encounter developing-world cultures, some of us feel the same way Katie did; others feel more tempted to defend U.S. culture and find fault with the third world. Both are normal reactions. We need to be gracious with each other as we process the differences, and we need to be honest with God as we wrestle with this. There are no easy answers.

But in the middle of our wrestling, we can hold tight to a beautiful picture God gives us in Revelation of people from every tribe, nation, people, and language gathered in equality around His throne in joyous worship (Rev. 5:9 and 7:9). Someday the titles “haves” and “have-nots” will be obsolete, and we will have complete, perfect unity.

Questions for thought/discussion:

  1. How do you feel about the differences between U.S. culture and other cultures you’ve experienced?
  2. How do we let go of cultural differences and see people from different cultures as simply another expression of God’s incredibly creativity—another facet of His image?
  3. How does the passage in Revelation bring us hope as we continually process these issues?
  4. Pages 219-224 of Kisses from Katie: How does God’s picture of the body of Christ—the family with brothers and sisters—fit into Katie’s insistence that we should treat everyone God brings into our lives like family?

Kisses from Katie devotionals

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DSC_0028Before we went on the trip to Africa, Dave asked if I would write devotionals for the team to use while on the trip. We had asked the girls to read Kisses from Katie, a wonderful book about a girl from the suburbs who went to Uganda after she graduated high school and who now, in her early mid-twenties, has adopted 13 Ugandan girls and lives there full-time. I used Scripture and Kisses from Katie and wrote short devotionals that, I hoped, would cover at least some of the issues and opportunities for growth we would encounter in Africa.

Well, I think doing the devotions IN Africa was fine, but, for me, they seem more necessary back here in the U.S. As always after I return from being in Africa, I feel like I’m stuck in no-man’s land, wondering… well, lots of things.

I don’t know if these will be helpful for anyone besides me, but over the next few days, I’ll be posting the devotions, which I’ve adapted to fit a broader audience. Some are pretty short, but all have discussion/for-thought questions.

 

Everybody Act Medium

Pastor Chuck Swindoll once told a story about some kids who built a clubhouse. They put a sign on the outside that read, “Nobody act big; nobody act small; everybody act medium.”

Those kids knew that harmony and fellowship aren’t possible when people think they’re bigger than others OR when people believe they’re lesser.

But when people view themselves—and everyone else—as “mediums,” equals, there can be fellowship.

Looking from God’s point of view helps us to understand ourselves as “mediums.” Though WE see our human distinctions of wealth, class, education, strength, and beauty as really important, God doesn’t. We all “rate/rank” the same with Him.

Questions:

  1. Read Philippians 2. Paul takes the idea of “medium” to another level. He says to think of others as “better than ourselves.” What does this look like when we’re working/living alongside people from different cultures/backgrounds?
  2. How do we look for similarities rather than differences?
  3. One generality about the American mindset is that we consider ourselves the heroes. This is a particular temptation when we are entering into situations with people poorer than we are. How can Philippians 2 help us to relate correctly to people in these situations?
  4. What are some ways we see Katie doing this in the book? What can we learn from her example? (page 7 “…saw myself in those little faces”  and page 12 “This is the place where…”)

 

Africa Connections Info

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Dave and I have mixed feelings about missions trips.

That’s a weird statement considering we just got back from leading one.

On one hand, you spend a LOT of money to get there that could be used instead either by the organizations you work with or by full-time missionaries. Sometimes missions teams go in with the idea that they’re coming in to save the day (not exactly a Philippians 2 attitude).

But on the other hand, often the money spent to go on the trip is like an initial investment. It opens up the team members’ eyes and hearts–as well as the hearts and eyes of their friends and family members–to needs and Gospel opportunities they had no idea of before so that future support gets funneled in directions it would not have otherwise. Mission team members find that they are “mutually strengthened and encouraged and comforted by … (the) faith” of the people they meet. (Romans 1:12)

My hope is that those of you who have read my blog have, in a sense, traveled with us and been impacted just as we have. Some readers have already asked me about ways to contribute to some of the ministries we worked with, so what I want to do in this post is provide links to all of the different organizations we worked with while we were in Kenya and Uganda. You can learn more about these organizations and donate to them at the website links provided. I’ve also included the link to the specific blog post I wrote about our experience at each organization.

1. Kibera Girls SoccerAcademy:

http://www.kiberagirlssocceracademy.org/

This is a FREE secondary school in the heart of the Kibera Slum (the second largest slum in the world) that provides girls with a quality education so they can continue on beyond secondary school to universities and colleges. Great program.

Blog link: https://jenunderwood.org/2013/07/11/day-3-in-africa-a-gift-of-a-day/

2. Springs of Hope Orphanage run by Kenyan Mary Musyoka:

http://www.entertheventure.com/

Venture Corps is a U.S.-based non-profit that advocates for several non-profits run by Kenyan and Ugandan nationals. You can find more info on Springs of Hope on Venture Corps website and donate specifically to it or to the Venture Corps general fund.

Blog link: https://jenunderwood.org/2013/07/10/meet-mary-day-2-in-africa/

3. Mercy Childcare run by Ugandan Wilfred Rugumba:

http://www.mercychildcare.org/

Mercy is dear, dear, dear to my heart. Our son, Patrick, is from Mercy, and I lived with Wilfred and his wife, Vena, for five weeks during our adoption process. Almost all the ministry we did in Uganda was through Mercy and its founding church, Light the World Church in Kampala, Uganda.

Blog links:

Seeing Ugandans Light the World, Day 1 in Uganda

Beauty from the awful, Day 3 in Uganda

Final days in Uganda

4. UAPO (Ugandan American Partnership Organization) (In Uganda, known as the Akola Project):

http://www.theuapo.org/ (this site has information about the UAPO)

http://akolaproject.org/ (this is the UAPO’s shopping site–beautiful jewelry and very soon, some amazing woven bags)

Blog link:

Our gifts, God’s purpose