The Great Inversion

For over a year now our team has been talking and praying about drilling wells.  These discussions took us through a broad range of possible ways to drill wells.  Those ways included possibly buying a big drilling rig and starting a large well project that would have needed large sums of money to maintain and could have drilled many wells.  However, the people here could never have maintained the wells much less one day completly oversee and finance the project.  Because of this, we looked in other directions and continued to pray for God to open a door so that he could bless the people with clean water.  In October of 2007, we began a dialogue with the wonderful people from Water For All International (WFA) and they began to share with us about their low cost well drilling  technique.  Very quickly it became apparent that this was the method we were looking for and soon the dialogue became a concrete plan of action.

Matt Waller, an intern with WFA, arrived in Togo on the 12th of March and soon thereafter we began our first drilling project in the village of Lassa Tchou.  Two weeks of searching for and buying all the parts necessary for drilling proceeded the first project, but God was faithful to us and led us to all the parts we needed.  We have already developed relationships with welders, plumbers and others shop owners who have been so helpful in finding and fabricating all of the pieces we need for our drilling rigs and well pumps.  

The drilling in Lassa Tchou began on Tuesday the 25th of March and concluded on Friday the 28th.  The  following Monday we began the pump installation and as of today the people living in the area of the church have a well that is pumping out clean fresh drinking water.  Our first attempt collapsed and we had to start a second well.  With the second attempt, we drilled to 9.5 meter (31 feet) and at that depth found water.  We cased the well and after perhaps an hour of pumping and developing the aquafer we inserted the rising main and pump stem.  A couple days later, we put a steel cover over the well and were finished.  I realize that some of this means nothing to you and believe me it is hard to describe so that you can fully understand it.  However, suffice it to say that the people were overjoyed to see water exit the pipe.

Drilling this first well was an amazing experience.  I had no idea what to expect.  I had been told, almost warned about the difficulty of the work and all that was said was an understatement.  Yet, it was so much fun to work side by side with my Kabiye brothers and sisters for such an amazing purpose.  Their amazing work ethic and refusal to be overly discouraged when the first well collapsed and when we hit rock in the second well was inspiring.  There were times when we would drill and drill and drill and only descend two inches in an one hour and yet they would persevere.  Then we would punch through the rock and hit sand or clay and would descend one meter in twenty minutes.  They would begin to sing and shout and work harder and harder.  Their enthusiasm was contagious for me.  And of course when we removed the drill stem and inserted the casing (telling them all the time that there might not be water) and then began to pump the well, their excitement grew and grew.  Their excitement crescendoed when they began spraying themselves with the water as it pumped out of the half inch diameter pipe and tears of joy came to my eyes as I realized the the enormity of what God had done in bringing clean water to these people.  Praise God for all that he has provided to make this moment possible.

Currently we are drilling in the village of Kaacade.  We are on our fourth attempt and this attempt seems promising.  The work has been harder than Lassa Tchou and we would appreciate your prayers.  Continue praying for the well project in general and if you want to help sponsor a well or a drilling rig please email us and we can get you involved in this wonderful project.  The cost for fabricating all of the parts for one well is approximately $60. Email me at kabiye4christ@yahoo.fr for more info. or leave a comment.  Thanks!

(More pictures to come.  WordPress is having difficulty loading more than one picture at a time to a post today)

This past Sunday our family, along with Becky’s mother and our school teacher, went to worship with our brothers and sisters in Soumdina Po Wayi.  It is normal for us to travel out each week to one of the 18 churches that have been started here in Kabiye land.  However, what doesn’t occur so often is for us to be encouraged in such a powerful way.  So often in our interactions with the churches, we are the ones doing the feeding and encouraging and do not often receive an outpouring of encouragement in return.  This is not to say that our Kabiye brothers and sisters do not encourage us as well, but this past Sunday was special.  Sitting among these wonderful Christian people, we felt a part of their fellowship in a special way.  We were not there just to teach and encourage as “the missionaries”, but we were taught and encouraged as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  Halayem, one of the leaders in Soumdina Po Wayi, shared a wonderful message from James and it was so nice to see him teach in such an effective and powerful way.  Also, it was nice to share in the Lord’s Supper with them as we gathered in a circle at the front of the building in a special time of fellowship.  Throughout the worship time there was no sense of pretense or expectation, just a desire to worship God together.  Voices were raised joyfully to God in song and the true nature of their praise was reflected in the smiles that covered their faces.  Dogs were even allowed to come into the building and sack out on the cool dirt floor without being a distraction.  I couldn’t help but think of a blog post I had read about a church in the states that has a pet friendly policy.  I am not arguing for or against a policy such as this, I just know that these people’s hearts were so filled with worship that they did not care about the dogs or the dirt floor or the small pole benches they were sitting on.  All of us, together, were attuned to God and I know that the praise we offered up was reverberating in the throne room of God.  Another blessing was seeing Elijah take part for the first time in worship in the village.  He had read a prayer that had really touched his heart and wanted to read it in Soumdina Po Wayi.  He read, I translated and the people were touched by the sweetness of his heart.  And then if all this were not enough, their hospitality spilled over to us as they fed us bean cakes and shared their blessings with us at the end of the service.  Praises be to God for the way he works in the lives of his people.  God is truly being honored in the lives of the Christians in Soumdina Po Wayi.    

During my more recent visits out to churches, I have been focusing on the idea of finding our satisfaction in God and His Kingdom.  One of the passages that study has taken us to is the story of the rich young ruler in Luke 18.  In spending a great amount of time studying and focusing on this passage and others surrounding it, I was struck by how I and so many other Christian people like me have completely missed the point that Jesus is trying to communicate.  So much focus is given to verses 24 and 25 where Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”  I have discovered that it isn’t so much what Jesus says here that is important as it is why he said it.  It is so easy to get wrapped up in debating the issue of wealth and riches and whether a Christian can be wealthy or not and if one is wealthy shouldn’t he be giving all of his wealth to the poor as Jesus instructed the rich young ruler in Luke 18.  I am afraid that by entering into that debate or discussion we miss the more central idea that Jesus is trying to teach us.  The main issue was not the man’s wealth, but his heart.  Jesus saw straight into the heart of this man and knew that his delight was in his riches.  He knew that his heart was closer to his money that it was to God.  The context of this entire passage (18:1-30) is the reality of the kingdom of God and our living in it.  James says something about this in James 4:4 and he says it emphatically!  “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?  Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”  In other words, where are we living?  Are we current, fully engaged, passionate residents of God’s kingdom or are we splitting time between the summer home in Montana and the winter home in Arizona?  Are we like snowbirds living in whatever place best suits us at the time?  The rich young ruler came before Jesus with an excellent question.  However, when Jesus challenged the inner recesses of his heart and demanded full allegiance to God’s kingdom the man’s heart was sad because his allegiances were split.  Jesus demanded that he choose Montana or Arizona.  This passage asks the same of us today.  Anytime the pursuits of this world come between us and God, we need to ask ourselves some serious questions.  Can we honestly pray, “Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” as Jesus did in Matthew 6:10?  If we cannot perhaps it is because we are not really satisfied by the riches of God’s kingdom.  Jesus tells the rich young ruler to sell all he has, give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.  In other words, stop delighting in your earthly riches and delight instead in the riches of God’s kingdom.  Jesus says very clearly in Matthew 6:19 to not store up treasures on earth but instead to store up eternal kingdom treasures.  How are we to take these words of Jesus?  Do we take them literally or is he somehow speaking in symbolic terms?  Personally I see no symbolism here.  The ultimatum is to choose.  Choose earthly treasures or heavenly treasures!  Choose one master not two!  Choose to be delighted in the kingdom of God or the kingdoms of this earth.  Choose to be a faithful lover of God or an adulteress!  In the title of this post, I boldly claim, “I am rich!”  By that I proclaim possession of riches that the most wealthy individuals in the world cannot obtain outside of Jesus Christ.  This proclamation is of living, vibrant and indestructible riches.  Moths, rust, fire, flood or even death cannot take these riches from me and only I can choose to lay them aside for things of much less significance.  These are the riches that Jesus offered to the rich young ruler and that he offers to anyone who would choose to abide in and be fully satisfied with God and his kingdom.  My prayer is that all of us, regardless of where we live or how much earthly wealth we possess, can stand fully in the kingdom of our God and be filled to overflowing by His abundant riches in Christ Jesus and by being fully satisfied we will fully honor and glorify our Lord!    

Are you?  See the page on Clean Wells.  I will be updating well information there and I hope it will help maintain knowledge concerning this new aspect of our work here in Kabiyeland.  Thanks so much!    

I don’t know where all of you are in the world right now, but where I am it is so beautiful.  The sun has risen and as I sit here typing it bathes our entire yard in warmth.  God’s power is amazing and the consistency of the sun rising and setting always reminds me of His consistency.  Similarly would be the tide and the crashing waves of the ocean.  It is so wonderful to know that we serve a God who is consistent!  In Him there is no shifting or changing.  His righteousness endures forever, his love constantly accompanies us throughout our days and we are continually immersed in his forgiveness.  I am thankful for my God and so filled with joy when I think of the eternal relationship that we share together.  Praise you Lord!

Jesus told his disciples that all the angels in heaven rejoice when just one who is lost returns to the fold.  So how much more rejoicing is there when three return?  I have often tried to imagine what the party must be like in heaven following the baptism of those who believe and put their faith in Jesus.  All I can understand at this point is how my own heart rejoices and how thankful I am for the saving blood of Jesus that washes away sin.  This past Saturday in the village of Tchefengda, three young men gave their lives to Jesus and there was rejoicing throughout the Kingdom of God!  These men have been coming to our Saturday afternoon Bible study for some time now and I have watched as their understanding of God and their faith in Him has grown.  Last week when they expressed interest in following Jesus, I held my breath in anticipation praying that Satan would not step in and discourage them.  God listened and protected their newfound faith and this past Saturday we walked fifteen minutes to a small stream and there they completed their belief and obedience.  I am so excited for them.  As they came up out of the water their joy was mirrored in the smiles that all but swallowed their faces.  Please pray for these young men!  Their names are Olivier, TCHAGOMA, Pabanam, N’GNAMA and Essosolim, N’GNAMA.  They will need your prayer and God’s strength to maintain their committment in the face of the inevitable questions and temptations that will seek to pull them away.  Pray for their understanding and knowledge of God’s word to continue growing in their minds and hearts.  The angels in heaven are having a party!  Please celebrate with them and with us.  

Recently Adam, my good Muslim friend, came to the house to repair a couple of ceiling fan controls.  He brought with him some questions about a few things he had been reading in the Old Testament.  As you know, Adam and I have been having an ongoing discussion about the truth of God’s Word and the fallibility of the Koran and really most of what Muslims believe.  The discussion, however, brought to light what the really core issue is for Adam and I would expect each and every Muslim.  As we discussed many of the same things over and over again, it seemed we were going in circles and that maybe this would be a never ending circular process.  I began to doubt whether or not Adam was truly open to hearing the truth about God.  Then Adam spoke about a particular statement made in the Koran in which God questioned Jesus about his divinity and whether or not he had really told all his disciples in the New Testament that he was the Son of God.  Jesus response was no not exactly!  A light went on in my head as I saw the key to cracking Adam’s deeply entrenched faith in the Koran and it’s writer the “great prophet” Mohammad.  My question to Adam was, “If Mohammad is a true prophet of God, as any good Muslim would assert, how is it that he is the only prophet of God that denies the truth about Jesus Christ as savior and messiah?”  Adam’s only response to this was the difficulty he had in believing that Jesus could be God’s Son and he could be God at the same time.  We had spoken earlier about the claims made in John 1 and 14 about Jesus and Adam really struggled with how they express so strongly Christ’s divinity and his supremacy in all things.   In a nutshell, my word to Adam following all of this discussion was that if Christ the Son of God is removed from the pages of the Bible then everything is meaningless.  The Bible becomes nothing more than a glorified history book and all that I live for is gone.  Adam left my house with his mind swirling.  To put it into his words, Adam grabbed his head and said, “There is much turbulence in my mind.  It is like a war is happening in here!”  I told Adam that was good and that I would pray for that to continue until he saw and accepted the truth.  I told him that once he accepted Jesus that the war in is mind would cease.  Adam rode off on his bicycle shaking his head.  I am asking that you pray for Adam and for his thoughts.  Pray that God will continue to work on his mind and heart and that Adam can soon believe that Jesus is truly the Son of God.  Something so simple for those of us who believe but so distant and murky for one who has been deceived by Satan.  

Many of you may remember a blog I posted some time ago about a good friend of mine here whose name is Adam.  Adam is a follower of Islam and therefore in need of the saving grace of God.  In the previous post I shared with you the openness of Adam to speak about God, his Word and the differences between Christianity and Islam.  I wanted to share with you an update on my relationship with Adam and the progress that has been made toward turning Adam’s heart to God.  Adam and I have continued to have disjointed conversations over the past several months and in those conversations it seems that God is working and opening places in Adam’s heart for the truth to take root.  The newest development has been Adam’s desire to read the Bible.  I quickly found him a French copy of the Bible (he is not Kabiye) and encouraged him to start in the beginning and work all the way through.  He is currently working through Leviticus and wants to bring some questions discuss together.  I have recently purchased a copy of the Koran and will be reading through that so that I can understand more of where he is coming from and so that he sees me seeking to understand Islam.  I am asking you to be in prayer for Adam.  Pray that his heart will be soft to receive the real truth of who God is and how he desires relationship with us. 

A friend of mine who I recently reestablished contact with asked a question on facebook.  “What has God done to astound you recently?”  My response to his question was that God brought Becky, Hannah and Caleb safely from Togo to Washington.  Not that astounding you say?  Considering the thousands of miles, a year old infant son, eight year old daughter, twenty-four hours in cramped quarters on a plane, nine hour layover in London and four hour car ride at the end, I would say that is astounding.  If you don’t think so then you have never traveled with children.  Becky has traveled one other time to the states by herself with an infant and it was a nightmare.  Vomiting, crying, and little help from the airline staff all mixed together for a relatively nasty experience.  So when we decided that Becky would do that again, I began praying earnestly and specifically for not only a safe journey but also for an enjoyable one.  And I asked you to pray for the same.  Thank you for praying.  Her trip was safe and probably one of the easiest ones we have ever taken together or separately.  From Accra to London she was bumped up to business class and Caleb slept all the way.  London to Seattle God provided a wonderful older lady from the Czech Republic who spoke about six words of English and who held Caleb and walked with him and was basically a free nanny so Becky could catch a little break.  And driving from Seattle to Richland both Hannah and Caleb slept the entire four hour drive.  In the hands of God all things are possible and in his capable hands those planes just cruised on and Becky, Hannah and Caleb cruised on and all was touched by His powerful being.  If that isn’t astounding, then what is?  Praise and thanks be to God!

Currently my wife Becky, daughter Hannah and son Caleb are cruising at 33,000 feet over West Africa.  They are headed to London tonight and tommorow will continue from London to Seattle.  There are few things more difficult for me than to put a portion of my family on an airplane and say goodbye for a short period of time.  While I will enjoy having some special time with Elijah and Gabriel, nothing will be exactly right while we are separated by such a vast space.  As I pulled away from Kotoko International Airport in Accra, Ghana I couldn’t help but shed a few tears.  I am fanatically faithful to my wife and children and take their personal safety and protection very personally.  However, when I heard their plane take off and fly over the guesthouse here in Accra where we are staying, I was reminded how powerless I am to protect them in this instance in particular.  Control must be given to God.  I am reminded of this each time I am separated from my family.  So, I ask you to please join me in praying for my darling wife and children while they are away and that he would bring them back safely in a couple weeks.  Thanks!