Behold, He Provides
You have seen the headlines: Omicron Found in Southern Africa, Travel Cut to 8 African Countries. Those headlines are frustrating to our mission effort, but they also serve as the catalyst for a new plan.
Is it possible to do training for people in Malawi over Zoom? If so, Prison Fellowship would be the place and they might have the internet speed and equipment needed. This picture is from our first Zoom test call to Prison Fellowship in Malawi and it worked very well! The room above is the same room that we held training for 25 chaplains in 2019.
If our travel is going to be limited, then we must find another way to reach across the distance to bring the Gospel. Rodrick is a very capable leader at the Prison Fellowship campus in Balaka, Malawi. When it is not used as a half-way house for inmates, it is a great place to host an Orality conference. We would be able to rent this space, provide food and lodging, and support the ministry of Prison Fellowship all at the same time. There are challenges to work through such as the reliability of the power or the fact that their day is our night, but this is a powerful first step toward expanding our training beyond the limitations of things that are outside of our control.
Next, we will be testing a call that connects the ministry team from Malawi, Uganda, Prescott, AZ, Minneapolis, MN, and Cross Lake, MN. May the Lord go before us as we bring God’s Word to the world! I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. 1 Corinthians 9:22-23
Behold, He Came
Behold is a beautiful word.
It is simply to look, to take in, to be in awe over. There are many things that capture our attention, many things that we look at, and take in, but Jesus surpasses them all. Let us behold Him!
To behold Jesus is not like beholding anything else. It is to see who He is and what He has done. It is to marvel at God coming down, to the earth that He made, as a baby. It is to allow the wonder of this gift to sink in, to be invited in and to be welcomed.
That is what happens when Jesus is revealed and understood. It is the awareness of God speaking through His Word. Michael Rokenbrodt recently told a story about Jesus coming down from John 6. Michael said, “From what I could judge from the unanimous royal reverence of the group, it was as though the Lord’s Supper had very much descended from heaven among them. Our arrival had brought shock and awe. I perceived they were even fearful. Our discussion in John 6 and the other verses had unintentionally drug out the idol of alcohol into the light. We explained the forgiveness found in Jesus’ blood in the Last Supper, and how it could cleanse and restore a heart from the idol of alcoholism.”
Oh, may we all behold that Lamb that we also may be cleansed and restored. Yes, Lord, thank you for coming all the way down to us. Thank you for the freedom, the wonder, and the forgiveness we can find in you. “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” John 6:33-35
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