Material For Sacrifice

Bon soir encore de Bouaké! Tous les choses sont vert et beaux ici; mais il fait plus humide que Korhogo. Good evening again from Bouaké! Everything is green and beautiful here, but it is more humid than Korhogo. (Guess it’s a tradeoff!)

Quick update, I am in Bouaké to bid a bittersweet farwell to a couple friends who are heading back to the States on Wednesday. Good to be together, though suffering a bit from an overly introspective mind today and a bad case of acid-reflux. Praise God that all days aren’t like that though.

Saturday I biked about 25 kilometers around town in Korhogo, in the hilly terrain – my legs are drained. Went to a baptism at one church and in the night (at my church) there was a big all-nighter dance party. That was awesome, though I left early and slept for 3 hours so I wouldn’t be dead at the 8am service. Sunday morning service was interesting and really beautiful with the way the church was decorated. Not sure why the sermon talked more about Pilate than about Jesus though, I was a bit frustrated with that lol.

So how am I doing this week? Hmmmm….

This week has been a bit of a struggle in dealing with cultural differences. Ivorians don’t know how to plan in advance, and it’s very frustrating for me sometimes. Also I don’t get how they think sometimes, why they say certain things that in Western culture would be really offensive.

God has been teaching me a lot lately, but especially pounding my heart with one word this week: altar. Take the things that I am struggling with and put them on the altar. And it’s a sacrifice, so it’s not going to be fun - sacrifice is meant to cost something. What sane Jew ever wanted to burn up his best lamb? In fact, because my life should be a living sacrifice, that implies continuity, not a one time deal. There will always need to be intentional surrender of things that I’d rather just hold onto. In Romans 12, people love to quote verse 2, “do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world. Then you will be able to test and approve his will.” Sweet! Standing out and not conforming sounds great…independent, so American! We love our independence, heck yeah…down with the world’s ways and up with Jesus’, we won’t conform! But what does it mean to “offer yourself as a living sacrifice” in verse 1? That part was included in the discerning his will clause too. Hmm, sounds like hard work (and it is)! It’s not an automatic response, I’ve got to actually make an intellectual, rational decision to surrender and obey.

But does it end there? No, thank God. We aren’t meant to be spiritual masochists, but humble servants. There is a reason for sacrifice, it’s not just there to make us give of ourselves – God has made promises too. Like giving us life to the fullest, mercy and grace, correctment, or wrath if we disown him. So my lesson is to sacrifice it all, and don’t keep some hidden hope that you’ll get your way in the end. Don’t sacrifice the lamb but keep a leg for yourself – give it all away – set the whole issue on the altar, or it’s not an acceptable sacrifice at all.

These lessons I’m getting lately have been inspired from the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, and Elizabeth Elliot’s, “Passion and Purity.”

Here’s a couple ways to pray for me this week if you wish:

Better understand when people speak French to me.

More patience, selflessness and a loving and humble demeanor towards people.

The right words to speak into people’s lives, and to work with Ivorians well.

To put it all on the altar, withholding nothing.

Here is a fun photo from lunch on easter, with my little siblings here:

New hair, New president, Lots of Mangos

Bonsoir! Comment ça va?

Well I’ll be honest, I don’t really know where to start for this blog. I know that getting started is the important thing, so here it goes. What have I done this week? What has God been teaching me? Let’s start with what I’ve done.

Naomi and I just skyped with our new pastor at Clovis EV Free, Wil Owens! He is a really awesome guy, and his family seems so fun! We are going to attempt making a regular skyping schedule with him. It will be really fun to meet him in person when we get back in November! When we were done talking, he prayed for us over skype…this just blew my mind. To think God has provided a way for believers to pray together across oceans just shows His goodness.

Ok so backtracking, Sunday I got back in the night from Bouaké, and my family was happy (though surprised) to see me. They had thought I was going straight to Burkina, though I called mid-week to say that I’m not doing that until May, oh well. It’s been great being back with them after a week away. This week I’ve been getting to know my brothers and sister from Abidjan better, and have begun teaching them worhsip songs in English. They like to come in and ask (aka demand) me to teach them things and basically be their little american puppet usually when I’m in the middle of going through my daily prayer list, or doing a devotional, or journaling, etc. It’s pretty amusing sometimes actually, they like have a “Jason wants to be alone” radar gun I’m pretty sure, and they just shoot my room with it from the outdoor cooking area every 10 minutes or so. It’s all good, relationships with my family are important, and I can always come back to those other things right?

This week has been a good food week. My family is convinced I hate rice and suace (which I did before but am getting used to it now) so Monday after I had an amazing cheeseburger at a resurant in town for lunch, I came home and my mom boiled some potatoes for me, and then my dad came home with a HUGE burger for me! I think it was the first time I ever actually looked at rice and sauce with envy. Two burgers in one day equals heart attack. It was good though! I’ve actually been enjoying (a bit) some of the rice meals I’ve had this week. I’ve also had spaghetti a lot this week, which is a staple in Côte d’Ivoire thankfully! It’s not prepared with tomato sauce, but with oil and hot peppers.

Oh also, CJ and I rode over to Holly’s house to visit her and her family last night, and that was really good. She moved back to Bouaké today, though she plans to visit Korhogo from time to time. It was great to get to see her house before she left though.

God has been teaching me a lot this week, though the majority of it has been the last day or two. I read through first 1 Samuel over the course of a couple days and wrote down my observations about each character. I definitely see the overall theme (at least what God was trying to teach me through it) as being that of faithfulness. Have integrity and in everything put God first. Seek Him, obey Him, don’t think you can manipulate Him. Also, be persistent. Everyone in this book is SO persistent. Hannah in praying, Samuel and David in obeying, Jonathan in loving, Saul in pride and hatred. Persist in faithfulness, in prayer, and in integrity.

God has also been reminding me (through CJ’s blog yesterday) about being humble. Do you ever feel like being humble takes a lot of work? I wish it was just a natural condition of the heart, but it’s actually so contrary and unnatural because of sin. Personally, I feel like the art of humility is like walking a tightrope, it’s a balancing act, and my balance can be pretty crappy at times. You’ve got ego on one side, self-hatred on the other, and Jesus at the end of the line urging you to look straight ahead at Him. If you look down, then you are looking at one side or the other of the tightrope, and that’s how people fall the easiest. Turn your eyes upon Jesus and he will humble you.

Also this week has been one of just pouring out my heart and my feelings in prayer to God. As CJ so aptly stated in her blog yesterday, there is nothing magical that happens to missionaries on the plan ride over. Nobody becomes a spiritual superstar overnight. I brought my issues right on with me across the ocean, and they are amplified 7 times over in a foreign culture. Thank God for His faithfulness though, He is making us into a new kind of human, and through His power we can leave the old man behind.

So I can’t say that I’m this proverbial “missionary” that we imagine back at home, but I can say this: each day God is molding me and refining me like gold in the fire. As I surrender my life to Him, His very own life comes and lives through me. Romans 6 says, “Eternal life is not a gift from God, it is the Gift of God.” We have received the power OF the Holy Spirit, not power FROM the Holy Spirit – the power is the Holy Spirit Himself.

So praise God for His power being evidenced in our lives each day as we surrender wholly and completely to Him!

Amen!

PS

I forgot to take photos of my other family members this week, but I’ll work on that for another blog.

For the purpose of have SOME sort of picture to show you (I forgot to take any this week), here are a couple of my hair:

dont worry, she cut the rest

still pretty different though eh?

Gbagbo Arrested!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12985617

Check out that article. It's got a good summary of what led up to this crisis.

At noon I met up with the Khorogo gals: Heidi, Naomi, CJ, Alyssa, and Holly at a local restaurant in the grande marché. We enjoyed some great food: Chwarmas and a cheeseburger (I'm stoked I found burgers in town), and some awesome Moroccan tea which was on the house. The owner (who is from Morocco) was so happy 6 white people were in his shop! He asked for pictures with us, which we accepted happily. Soon after we had paid, we heard shouting on the street, and saw people dancing! The news had officially hit the streets of Korhogo: Laurent Gbagbo has been arrested in Abidjan! He was captured by Ivorian troops, which is hugely important, and is being held at the Gulf Hotel where Ouattara is staying. Finally Côte d'Ivoire can move on to the next chapter, towards reconciliation! It was so fun, and such a rare thing for most people I'd imagine, to witness the scene in the market while everyone was celebrating!

So that's the beginning of the end to the violence! Let's be praying for peace to reign in the country soon, for people to be brought to justice, and for reconciliation. Politicians are always inciting hatred between ethnic groups in Africa, and this crisis is a direct result of that sort of manipulation. It's a wicked way to cling onto power, but sadly all too common. Anyways, today is a day to celebrate.

Dancing in the streets

More dancing

In the restaurant right before the big news

And then right after we heard...

Last blog I believe I mentioned that I would include photos of the people in my life here in Korhogo, so here are a few of those! I have over 20 people living just at my house right now, so I can't get them all up in one post, but I'll include a few each blog.

Here is a couple of my youngest brothers: Emmanuel and (one who I'll name later)

The evil dog: Boobie

The sweet fun dog: Shigata

The oldest brother, who is 26: Zachary

My sister Eliza and I

My brothers: Adama and Jonas

This is Martine, we have a lot of fun together

The rugrats:Samuel, Umbuhlay, and Emmanuel. They are always getting into mischief lol

Leah, my 13 year old sister

My older sister Eliza (both Eliza's are 19)

Well, thats a good chunk of my family :) Not everyone is related by blood, everyone represents about 4 sets of parents - but that doesn't matter. In Africa, if you live under the same roof blood relation is a non-issue, you are family. I'm even considered a permanent part of the family, and I image I'll always be in touch with them after I've left.