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Rwanda in November

September 25, 2005 By

Hello to all from Togo!

In just a little over five weeks a two year old prayer and dream will become an answer and a reality: our trip to Rwanda. I wanted to write everyone and just share some of my thoughts about our trip.

It seems to me that this trip is about two things: intercession and research.

I believe God is calling us to do much more than just survey. The main purpose of our trip is to intercede on Rwanda’s behalf. In the name and by the blood of Jesus, let the darkness crumble and the light shine.

I am asking God to open up our hearts and our eyes to see this nation as he sees it, to weep as he has wept, and to use us to fight the spiritual battle on our knees. A prayer movement of the saints will precede a movement of repentance and faith among the people. Let us continue the prayer movement for this nation as we travel around and see for ourselves the cities, towns, villages, families and people of Rwanda!

I see our second goal as being to locate specific areas of the country where mission teams need to target and locate based on receptivity, lack of other current or potential mission efforts, priority in terms of urgency, and logistical capabilities. My assumption is that there is a need. Previous research reports have established that as well as common sense. However, I would like to come away from our trip with more specific targets of what kinds of teams need to be raised up, where do they need to locate and what types of ministries to they need to focus on.

I am praying that God will prepare our hearts and minds for what he wants to show us as well as for how he wants to use us.

I think one thing that will make this research trip different than previous research trips is the fact that many of us are fervently asking the Lord if this is the next place where he wants us to serve. We go to answer questions for ourselves as well as for others.

And of course, since we’ll be so close, we need to go see the gorillas:)

In preparation Christine and I have watched “Hotel Rwanda”, “Sometimes in April”, and the PBS special on Rwanda (I can’t remember the name but is contained dozens of interviews after the genocide). I am also trying to read as many books as possible to educate myself of the history of Rwanda from many different perspectives: African as well as western.

I have read these books and recommend them to everyone:

We wish to inform you… Philip Gourevitch
Shake hands with the devil. Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire
Rwanda Bradt travel guide

I am currently reading:

When victims become killers Mahmood Mamdani

Next in line are:

Genocide in Rwanda: Complicity of the Churches? essays from several different authors. Edited by Rittner, Roth and Whitworth.

Season of Blood: A Rwandan Journey Fergal Keane

May God have mercy and bring healing light to Rwanda. He is able to do more than we ask or ‘imagine’!

I appreciate Dave and Jana for their pioneering spirit and willingness to go ahead and open the doors for others to follow. I also appreciate their offer to help our survey group with lodging and transportation. We look forward to being with you guys soon!

Murphy

Filed Under: Books Highlights, Prayer Needs, Rwanda

into the wild

September 12, 2005 By

I recently finished a book entitled into the wild by John Krakauer. It is a story about a young 24 year old who rejects society and civilization for the most part in search of something… I think in essence he was searching for freedom. But he could not pinpoint exactly what he needed freedom from.

He went into the wild to seek this something and just as he was about to find it he lost his life.

He was not a Christian although at times he cried out to God. I was impressed on page 169 when the author reported a conclusion that the young man had come to…

Here is what he wrote in his journal on July 2, 1994.

….the only certain happiness in life is to live for others…

He had read this thought in another book which he took with him on his journey and came to find that it was true. Of course there was a lot more truth for him to discover but I was impressed upon the fact that he did at least find this small piece of truth.

A better conclusion would be that the only certain happiness in life is to live for God. But he was close.

After he found this truth he decided to return to society and to try to incorporate his newfound reality into his daily living. Unfortunately, his lack of preparation and forethought about the dangers and struggles of living in the wild caught up to him before he could get out.

His story challenges me though because of his search for truth and because of his realization that the often thought assumptions of our lives that more is better, bigger is better, riches are happiness, and success revolves around having and doing, are not true. Realizing that these assumptions were not true, he went searching for something else.

I wish that he had found that Jesus was the answer to his search. But it reminds me that there are many, in fact multitudes, in fact millions of people who realize that the assumptions passed down to them from their parents and society are not necessarily true and who are seeking for something else.

My hope is that I too will revolve my life completely around the teachings of Jesus, question and rethink the assumptions that society has taught me, mold my life around the leading of the holy Spirit, and then be used by God to touch the lives of others who are searching for truth.

May God be praised!

Filed Under: Books Highlights, Growing Spiritually

hurricane Katrina

September 12, 2005 By

wow! I continue to be impacted by the devastation that hurricane Katrina caused. Multitudes of people losing everything including jobs, homes, family members, and lifetime savings, etc. My heart goes out to the suffering and also to the multitudes who are trying to help in whatever way they can.

It also makes me reflect about my own life and the fact that we are supposed to be sojourners on the earth. In Jesus we are aliens and strangers in this world. In essence, we are just people passing through. And yet, I spend so much time accumulating stuff on the way. I lost nothing in hurricane Katrina but I am deeply impacted by those who did.

My thought is that we should go ahead and get rid of our stuff knowing that it is inevitable that we lose it anyway.

Christine and I feel like the Spirit is moving in our hearts, some of which is prompted by hurricane Katrina, and also because of our prayers of late asking God to reveal anything that is hindering our effectiveness in the kingdom. All of this being said, God is moving our hearts to live more simple lives in which we can travel light and bless others more.

I do not know what this will look like and there probably is no destination when we will be able to say we have arrived. I do know that we have a long way to go.

We live and work among a people who are incredibly poor. We struggle with creating our own welfare system by which people come to depend upon us for their daily needs. And at the same time recognize that people do have needs and are often in dire straits and we need to help them.

We are praying that the spirit will continue to work in our hearts to mold and shape us into the likeness of Jesus who became poor that we might become rich.

We are currently reading freedom of simplicity by Foster. An amazing book. As we work our way through it I hope to share some of the thoughts that impact us the most.

Filed Under: Books Highlights, Growing Spiritually, Murphy, Prayer Needs
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