Sunday, February 08, 2009

God Among Us

A story during the sermon this morning caught my attention and tugged at my conscience.

A woman went to Africa as a missionary. She lived among the people, learned their language, ate their food, and loved them. She had to return to America from Africa and another missionary moved to the village in her place.

"I'm here to tell you about Jesus," the new missionary announced.

"No need," he was told. "We already know her."

It's been a weekend of remembering and reflecting back as I've spent the last two days with former teammates to Africa. These teammates were those type of people, the ones that people saw and knew that Jesus walked among them. It's an honor to be associated with them.

I wonder what people saw when I was there. I wonder if I was Christ to them or the ugly American. Probably a little of both.

3 comments:

David said...

Thanks for sharing. When I first heard that story, my immediate reaction was one of offense... Jesus isn't a "her" he's a "HIM!" Once I realized the message was about our fragrance...the aroma of Christ (2 Cor. 2:15).
And thanks for coming and staying with us. I enjoyed the visiting and staying up late with family.

M Lewis Skiles said...

I saw a show on PBS the other night called "On The Edge" or something like that. It is not a show I normally watch, but it was focused on Togo and you, sister, inspired me to watch it. Wow, what an eye-opener. They spent the whole show showing us different aspects of the voo-doo religion. Dancing and eating fire (actually biting down on hot coals). They showed us a "fetish market" claimed it was the largest of it's kind. The little dead critters and hides and feet and, oh my word!
It was difficult to watch all those lost souls flailing about trying to find what they do not know. Thank you for your service to the Kingdom. As I close this comment I will be praying for those still there...

Papa John said...

You (and the whole rotating team) did far more good for the Lord and the cause of His Kingdom and for the folk of a portion of Togo than you will ever realize. Don't doubt or withdraw the gifts you have offered. They are holy unto the Lord and are still yielding enormous returns.