WHAT? COBRAS???

She came for conference in Indiana.

Not long after we moved into our home in the New Hope Uganda orphanage complex, one of my Ugandan sisters, Gertrude, brought a teenaged girl to me who was on her school break.  She wanted Margaret to help me around my house – we’d pay her bits and pieces – and I could expand her reading.  Margaret only had a couple weeks before things would change again, but she’d do what she could.  We connected well.  I truly liked her ... and still do.

Photo in Nov.'03 when I visited.

We were sitting on the couch one day and reading together.  A novel that was a bit over-the-top in her English reading, but we were laughing and enjoying the time.  Then, suddenly, she heard some hollering, in their language, not mine, not far behind my house, and she jumped up and run out.  She came back in just a minute or so.  Basically what she said was, “Auntie, boys have a cobra in a hole.  Killing.  Come see.”  She grabbed my hand.  I started to pull away, saying, “No!!”  She said, “They want you.  Bring your camera.”  She pulled again.  I didn’t know how to back off without seeming like a cowardly, not-caring person living there. [Believe me, many of the men, women, and children from a variety of countries, including England, Canada, Scotland,the States, and Uganda, were brave.  How could I turn into a wimpy one?]

As a little girl, could you be smiling?

 We went behind the house, at a gardening area, probably 15 feet away, and the boys were fighting the cobra.  The way they did it was to have their sticks in their hands and when it came to the top of the hole, aiming at one of the boys, the other side would whack it with their stick.  It would fall and then turn the other direction and be hit by the other side.

 
  

 After striking the cobra a few times, it finally died.  I’m not sure why, but one of the boys was chosen as the “winner”... and he was able to take the cobra to his family home as part of a duplex across from us.  The reason?  The family would be free to fix it for dinner.  I couldn’t have imagined anything much worse, believe me.

As I’ve said before on posts, I’ve loved a variety of animals, birds, lizards, Nile River "residents", etc., we saw in Uganda. However, I never jumped for joy when seeing pythons, mambas [one in our house in the Kampala area the year before], or any other scary bits, such as that.  Uh, UH!!  

This cobra event, however, was a blessing simply because I was able to make the kids so happy by being out there with a camera.  I guess it was a good thing. 

 [But don’t want to do it again -- ever, ever, ever.]

GENESIS IN UGANDA

GENESIS 1:25 

God made every one of them. 

Then he looked at what he had done,

 and it was good.

When we lived in Uganda, every one of these ... and many more ... broke into our hearts.  The Lord's creativity made us laugh, and made us just roll our eyes in amazement.

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  [The only time I ran away ... snakes, spitting spiders.  Not a brave-enough follower of our Creative Father.  Sorry.]

FRIENDSHIP ... A GOOD SEED

Through friendship, both good and evil, our hearts can be opened.  And in our heart, seed can be planted.  Good fruits and vegetables ... or poisonous weeds ... can be the result, either quickly or much later.

I've had both kinds of friends ... maybe been both kinds.  But, the important part for me now is to be a good one and to not just take friends for granted.  But enjoy them and rejoice for them.

Today, Susan, who I have considered a best friend/sister for over 50 years, is having her birthday.  Now, I've never wondered why God put her into my life -- it's been a blessing to me -- but I've often wondered whether SHE ever wondered. I had a reputation when I entered that high school, having just moved to town, as a "tough cookie", to say the least.  She, however, was known as kind and caring.

 We've hardly ever spent enough actual day-by-day time with one another, but it has been a special quality, whether staying near or far away.  I can tell her almost anything -- and she won't gossip about it, or be mad at me, or reject me.  I have tried her patience more than once, and even with a tiny bit of fussing between us, we are always able to forgive and forget almost instantly.  She has loved me when no one else would, and she has taken care of me when I was sick [emotionally, spiritually, and physically].  We walked together through classmate situations in high school -- and everything from that point forward in life. Different opinions sometimes, different viewpoints.  Yet, through it all, we have remained together.

Now, this friendship was not overly cultivated by either one of us.  We just happen to have a love for one another that time and space and hardship hasn't been able to destroy.  We don't neglect our friendship, but we haven’t had a lot of time to spend cultivating it.  We just know that we know that we are loved.  

One of Susie's favorite flowers... and we love butterflies.

NOW, God's friendship is similar to that in many ways.

               -- God loves us for what and who we are.  We don't have to put on a front or act phony (in fact, He seems to have a special dislike for the phony, hypocritical person).  
              --  Our age isn't going to make any difference at all with Him 
              -- He’s willing to start a friendship any time we are.         
              -- Distance won't get in the way, because He is near to our heart.  
              -- If we tell Him a secret, He won't tell anyone else.     
              -- No matter what we tell Him, He won't reject us. [He may not like what we are saying, but He will deal with us about it on a one-to-one basis; He won't blab it to the whole town.] 
              -- He won't let us be lazy about our faith or our growth; He knows just the way to keep us moving.  But He will be patient and loving in guiding us the correct way.

Now, to close, one of the ways that this earthly relationship is different than the one with God, is that the earthly one must be cultivated.  And, if we encourage growth of your human friendship through time in the Word of God and prayer, He will multiply and strengthen that effort and the rewards will be outstanding.  He moves nearer and nearer, closer and closer – and so does the friend.

Thank you, Susie.  Happy Birthday. 

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK -- PSALM

 

In my heart, day in and day out, Psalm 59:16 fills me with "truism", encouragement, RE-couragement.  So -- I will follow Him, walk with Him, and not fall away through fear, anger, jealousy, or frustration.

That is my goal, period.

MARY MAGDALENE -- SCENE #5

Jesus was enjoying a feast with friends.  Occasionally, however, he glanced towards the garden by the lake and watched Mary as she walked quietly, slowly through it, touching an occasional flower.  She didn’t look happy, but he knew, that in her heart, she was seeking Jehovah. Jesus felt strongly that he was to pray over her and bring her to freedom, but he would not go until he received the call from his Father.

Suddenly, the sun was setting.  

As he glanced at it over the lake, and the colorfulness, he heard, “Go, Son.  Go now.” 

Jesus immediately walked to the garden.  She had not looked away from the lilies, and had not seen him.

 "Mary," he called.  "Come here." 

 She looked up in shock, her eyes wide.  Momentarily, she froze, a flower in her hand.  Then, slowly, Mary approached him.  She couldn't stop the tears welling in her eyes. They streaked down her cheeks.  She was defeated and extremely weary.

 "Mary," he said with gentle authority, "it's time we talked.You've avoided the change.  That cannot continue."

 
Mary saw a stone bench nearby, slowly walked to it and sat down.  Her shoulders slumped and her hands dropped limply into her lap, the bright lilies falling to her feet.

Jesus sat next to her.  "Mary," he said, "I know you've been hurt and you've sinned.  I know why you do what you do, and why you say what you say.  I feel the same pain in my heart that you feel.  I have come to understand rejection, and fear, and shame ... not for myself, but for the others like you. Oh, my heart is for you."

"Jesus," she said quietly, "you've been so patient with me.  Before this, every man I've known has pushed into my life, stirred things up, and left as quickly as possible – and the hate in my heart increased.”  She looked directing into his eyes for the first time.  “You've been kind, and thoughtful, and treated me with respect.  Now, I want to be free to live as I see you live...free from the burdens of life, and, even more, I want to be free from sin."

"Mary, I want to ask you a final time.  Do you truly want to be free?  Do you truly realize that with freedom comes responsibility?  Do you understand the depth of the freedom you are seeking?  I want you to be a whole person ... with life and joy and peace flowing through your soul."

"What must I do to be free?  I do desire it with all my heart.  There is nothing else in life for me."  She paused.  "Do you know that before we met I had decided to kill myself?"  Immediately, her eyes rolled and a trace of a smile crossed her lips as she thought, “Of course, he knew!”

Without answering, he took her face gently in his hands and spoke very quietly, but with supreme authority.  "Satan, you have harbored your demons in Mary's life, but you have no right to stay.  Leave now, and never return."

As he spoke, the air around them was filled with rebuke.  And, although rebuke was something Mary had learned to live with, and even to expect, she knew he wasn't rebuking her.  It happened quietly, with no excited frenzy, no overwhelming emotion. Her tormentors left ... one by one ... until all seven fled like mists fleeing before the sun.  The darkness in her soul was replaced with dazzling brightness.  The wall encasing her heart shattered and she .. was .. free.
 

 Mary's joy was instantaneous and full.  Finally at peace, she had the assurance that no more voices would taunt her from within, reminding her of her sin, of her worthlessness, of her guilt.  She did not hear their names as these cohorts of Satan left.  She was enveloped in the goodness and gentleness of the person – of the presence – of Jesus.

           
                      Nothing else mattered.  Ever, ever again.

UGANDA M&M -- DAVE

When we think about the funny things that happened in a less-than-funny phase of life, it’s fun to share the stories.

About 2 weeks ago, I blogged an M-and- Ms event about a teacher in Uganda and how Dave dropped M&Ms into his life and filled him with chocolate and JOY!!!

A few weeks later, leaving Uganda, while at Entebbe Airport and heading through customs, the same sort of thing happened again ... but this time for, to, and through Dave.

 

You see, back then, the airport was a lot less modern or fancy than it was when we arrived 3 years later, in '94.  In '91, we could still see bullet holes on the walls from the civil war stretch.  And the customs clerks, whether we were arriving or leaving, were nice, usually, but rarely spoke OUR English.  And were picky sometimes, and thoroughly not-so other times.

When we arrived at the airport, ready to leave early that morning, I was put on one customs line and Dave on another.  When my small suitcase was opened, and my Bible was on the top, the clerk looked at me, looked at my Bible, then looked at me with a serious expression.  I was asked 3 different ways, pausing in between.  “Your Bible?” “Christian?”  “Born Again?”  I always answered "yes", of course, but when I answered “yes” to that final one, the seriousness left his face, he smiled, zipped the case, and sent me on to the waiting area.  Dave was still being questioned for some reason.  At that moment, I was a bit concerned, but had no idea what was going on.  It was taking too long.

What happened is that, when his carrying bag was opened, besides a couple shirts and underwear and socks, books, cassettes, and pieces of granolas [we might need to have those safe munchies on the way home], in the midst of them was one M&M candy package.  The clerk pointed to it with a questionable look on his face, so Dave pulled his ½ pack out of his shirt pocket and said it was candy.  Dave, to show this, popped a couple of pieces in his own mouth and smiled BIG, to show the clerk that it was nice.  The clerk said, “Oh, NO!  Drugs."  Dave said, “No, it’s not.  It’s candy.” The clerk looked at Dave very cautiously.  Dave put one in the clerk’s hand and smiled very much, and nodded at him to put it in his mouth.  The clerk did it very carefully.  THEN his eyes widened and his face changed to smile ... a BIG smile.  HE liked the M&M piece of candy.

What did he do next?  He pointed to the small bag in Dave’s case, nodded at it, and indicated he wanted it.  When Dave took it out and happily gave it to him, the clerk smiled, and immediately sent Dave along to the waiting area.

So, the equivalent of 50 cents, took us through the customs area.  Not a bad deal.

The only thing we learned later is that if Dave had known to say “sweet” instead of “candy”, the British term would have made him through customs with nothing as difficult or dangerous.  We learned LOTS of words with American/British differences later -- sometimes deadly serious and sometimes all of us, on both sides, roaring with laughter. 

M&Ms are still among my favorites ... and not just because of the chocolate, but because of the history in our missionary lives.

                      ====================
Hope you see this as fun, too.  Occurred about a week before we left.

This was one of my favorite experiences in Uganda. This was our first time at the River Nile. [Had been preaching/sharing/teaching at a Jinja church that morning, not far from this source location.]  The tree is the boundary.  To the left, Lake Victoria ends.  To the right, the River Nile begins.  

One fun part for me:  on those rocks to my side, I took my shoes off and put my feet in the water.

A "REJOICING" DAY.  

 

SEED PLANTING -- PART 1

The Lord has laid it on me recently to share thoughts and lessons and testimonies of what seed planting can accomplish spiritually.  I’ll be teaching about the combination of various natural seeds and how that fits into our spiritual world, but first it will be some Asian history.  Then it will be my personal “seed” story.

 Shortly after I came to the Lord, in 1966, a friend in my church loaned me a book. Even though I’d been a big reader since early childhood, I had never read anything about missionaries or international ministry.  The book was "Let My Heart Be Broken... with the things that break the heart of God", written by Richard Gehman, published in 1960.  World Vision Organization began in the 1950s and this was written so more people would understand the foundation and hope of that ministry. Didn't share a lot of cultural history, but focused on and talked to missionaries in Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, India, Japan, and a variety of territories and islands.  It touched my heart;  has never left it.  Many years ago, I bought one of the original books and I rarely loan it; sure don’t want to lose it.

Not long after reading that book, I began to read many others connected to China Inland Mission.  Hudson Taylor became my first Christian hero.  I saw so many examples indicating spiritual seed was planted into hearts, many of whom had never even heard the Lord’s name.  Other CIMs, such as James O. Fraser and Isobel Kuhn, two of my other favorites, drew people from the Western world to Asia to serve as missionaries and, with them and their families and friends, led many, MANY in the southwest Chinese tribes to the Lord and gave them the training and teaching that they needed.  As the sharing of those tribal members at village marketing, and the missionaries traveling further and further, the Word began to reach to Thailand and Burma and northern India, through valleys, over rivers, and across mountains.  It simply spread and spread. 

In approximately 500 years many God-servers in Asia have died from spiritual warfare.  In the past 60 years, for instance, many CIM's and other missionaries and many Chinese Christians died through disease, execution, wars, or religious murder.   But their seed did not die, just because their body had.  Their spiritual blood ... connected to our Lord's Blood ... soaking through the land, did not disappear.   Couldn't be seen by eyes, understood by normal minds, but couldn't be destroyed .  Why?  Because the spiritual strength of our Lord is far above the everydayness of life.

In our present day —  MY present day — I am blessed to hear stories from the Bhutanese refugees whose families were forced to flee from Bhutan about 25 years ago.  After living in Nepal for those years, more and more of them, from seed having been planted there, came to the Lord.  Some of them, especially the young ones, some of my “kids”, want to leave Omaha and return to Nepal.  They want to spread the Word, plant the seed, more and more, in Nepal, India, and, when possible, IF possible, in Bhutan.  They, because of their cultural understanding, can share about Jesus, in the towns, villages, and refugee camps.  They want to share the Word more, show the Truth more deeply.  Be Servants -- teaching, nursing, child-caring. They strongly believe that the Word will spread through the rivers, over the mountains, across the borders.  They truly believe they can do it more effectively than most of us Westerners could, because they know the culture thoroughly, having been raised there, understanding the spiritual differences in approach, mostly connected to Buddhism and Hinduism.  I believe they can do it. 

Seed, historically, was planted by Catholic priests in the late 1500s as they traveled back and forth through Nepal from Tibet to India.  The first tiny seeds were planted.  Since then it’s been a little here, a little there, and sometimes — many times — buried under the surface for many generations.   Now, for decades and centuries it was very difficult for anyone outside of their country to ever enter and speak outside of their national Hinduism or Buddhism.  Miraculously, in the 1950s, Western doctors and nurses, in particular, were able to bring more of the Nepalese to the Lord.  Seed was planted.  Now, even with the national leadership often wanting nothing to do with Christians, the Bhutanese/Nepalese  can share, touch, bring healing, and help in any way possible. 

I could talk/write for HOURS about how I've seen seed planting in a spiritual manner for more than 40 years.  And I've been blessed to see the results.

I often think that when I am dying one of the main blessings buried in my heart will be that my spiritual seed has been planted, people will turn to the Lord, I'll meet them in heaven, and we will hug and dance and jump up and down with joy.

Yep, that's what I want.

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Part 2 will tell how good and or bad seed was planted in me shortly before I became a Christian ... and both of the seeds BY Christians.

An indicator of how we should pay attention to what seed is being planted in us ... and what we are planting in others.  For good, bad, or indifferent [or ugly].