REO Musings

Oct. 20, 2010

Greetings from Arkansas!  Debbie and I have been delayed here in the States after our scheduled two month break-July and August. The first delay related to Charles’ (Debbie’s step-father) death and burial the first week of Sept. When we arrived in Arkansas he was recovering from bladder surgery he had the previous week and had only been home a couple of days. Home health care and rehab were in place, which was a huge help to Deb’s mom, and Abbie and Audrey (our two girls) who had made Grandma’s their home for the summer. They found themselves thrust into a stressful situation providing 24/7 care for Granddad. He was recovering fairly well, but just a couple of hours after his final session with the home health care nurse he fell in the bathroom and broke his hip. He underwent partial hip replacement surgery and then over the next six weeks went through two additional surgical procedures. Debbie was with her mom every day during this time—either at the hospital, rehab, or hospice. He suffered immensely the last couple months of his life, and although it is always difficult to bury a loved one, there was also a sense of relief. The Hope we have as believers possess was clearly portrayed through the funeral service—an eternal dwelling prepared for us in the presence of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

I fully expected to return to Entebbe within a couple days of the funeral. With uncertainties related to Charles’ situation Debbie and I agreed that she should stay on a few weeks to be available to help her mom in whatever way was necessary. It looked like she may need to sell property and consolidate. That has not been necessary for the immediate future. We also agreed that it would be best for her to follow up on a couple of nagging health issues. She began that process fairly soon after we arrived in July and was diagnosed with a UTI, that seemed to be the likely cause of the ongoing pain in her lower right abdomen, low grade fevers, and fatigue. It looked like the problem had been identified and a solution put into action. A good dose of antibiotics should take care of that!  But, after three rounds of different antibiotics and various tests and cultures the UTI was not clearing and it was fairly clear that something else was going on. Just about the time of the funeral the doctor recommended more testing and I became uneasy in leaving Debbie to return to Entebbe without knowing what was the cause of the increasing pain, fevers and fatigue. I made the decision that it would be best for me to hang around until we find some answers. Up to now the various scans and tests have not revealed what is causing the pain, fevers and fatigue. The result of an appointment today at the urologist’s office is another test/procedure (an IVP) first thing tomorrow morning. (She’s not been able to eat since noon today and been drinking more nasty stuff).  As we wait for something conclusive she continues to experience pain in her lower right abdomen-going around to her back, fevers, and unusual fatigue.

I have benefited immensely from the delay; I have been “forced” to slow down! To rest! To wait! To be!–These are not easy for me (I am a doer!)—but each small step of obedience in this direction has resulted in tremendous blessing. On the flight back to the States in July, I was reading through a fairly recent issue of Christianity Today and was struck by an interview with Richard Foster in which he refers to the importance of the practice of— silence and solitude. I recognized that this is a discipline I knew very little about, had not practiced, and needed to learn much more about! The practice of the discipline of silence and solitude produces an environment in which we are able to hear the voice of God. It removes us from the “noise” of our daily pressures and concerns and allows us to be absorbed in the presence of our Creator: God! Jesus declared, “My sheep know my voice…” and made it be known that the best place to hear and commune with Him is in our closest—not too many distractions there! I have found a quiet place along the river, but admit that even in that quiet and peaceful setting there are too many distractions—a fish jumping for an insect, a bird, a ripple, a falling leaf, etc., The closet is best!

I received an email this past week from Ted Witmer, who along with his wife Dana are missionaries with Crossworld (UFM) in Bunia, DRCongo. He teaches at Shalom University (USB) and she is a medical doctor. Below is the portion of their newsletter that caught my attention.

“This past week we attended the triennial conference for leaders of CrossWorld. We were challenged with good ideas on discipleship and leadership. One item which especially resonated with us is the movement to encourage all Christians to pray every day at 10:02 am for workers for the harvest in missions. This is modeled on Luke 10:2 where Jesus says “pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the His harvest.” We all set the daily alarm on our cell phone (or other alarm clock) to ring at 10:02 am every day, to be reminded to pray for more laborers, and we invite you to do the same. Back in 1974, Ted led a devotional and challenged fellow students to pray like this every day for a month. It was at the end of that month that he decided to become a missionary in part fulfilling his own prayer. The new call is to pray faithfully every day without a date limit in accordance with this command of Jesus. Worldwide there are now 300,000 Christian missionaries of whom 120,000 are from the West and 180,000 from the non-Western world. Shalom University has a program to train Congolese missionaries and some are emerging with a real heart for reaching across cultures to those who have never heard and thus augment those serving from non-Western countries. … We would encourage you to set your alarm now and join in this prayer commitment at 10:02 every morning to pray for more laborers for the worldwide harvest.”

Over the past few weeks Father has impressed upon me in various ways the same command found in Matthew 9:38. It first came as I was being led to read the Gospels—to hear Jesus through his recorded words! The impact of this verse knocked me off balance. We desperately need workers in Central Region–particularly Congo, CAR, S. Sudan, Chad, NE and NW Uganda. We are under pressure to write Vision and Strategy Papers to reach specific people and/or areas—to produce “catchy” media material to “attract” laborers!   And then—”Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Who do we think we are that we can “attract” laborers?!? I will join in encouraging believers worldwide to pray every day for laborers for the harvest. My focus will be for Central Africa! I will encourage and push that AIM as an organization make this our #1 priority. Until we are seriously engaged in prayer (and fasting) that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into the harvest fields, what right do we have in establishing vision and strategy papers, media presentations, etc., to recruit personnel? Prayer for laborers has to begin with those of us who are the current leaders and the laborers. How about it? Will you set your alarm to 10:02 and join this prayer movement for laborers?

I woke up, or maybe was awakened Oct. 16 with Witmer’s email on my mind and the specific thought: –”Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” I have been reading Oswald Chamber’s meditation for the day from “My Utmost for His highest” as a launching pad into my spending time in and with the Word. Here is the reading;

“Oct. 16 Matthew 9:38 “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest.”

The key to the missionary problem is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer not work, that is, not work as the word is popularly understood today because that may mean the evasion of concentration on God. The key to the missionary problem is not the key of common sense, nor the medical key, nor the key of civilization or education or even evangelization. The key is prayer. “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest.” Naturally, prayer is not practical, it is absurd; we have to realize that prayer is stupid from the ordinary common sense point of view.

There are no nations in Jesus Christ’s outlook but the world. How many of us pray without respect of persons, and with respect to only One Person, Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced by distress and conviction of sin, and this is the harvest we have to pray that labourers may be thrust out to reap. We are taken up with active work while people all around are ripe to harvest, and we do not reap one of them, but waste our Lord’s time in overenergized activities. Suppose the crisis comes in your father’s life, in your brother’s life, are you there as a labourer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? “Oh, but I have a special work to do!” No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, one who is not above his Master, one who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls to no special work: He calls to Himself. “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,” and He will engineer circumstances and thrust you out.”

I have had time to pray, read, reflect and listen as we “wait” to see what medical science might reveal about Debbie’s health situation. I was and continue to be deeply challenged through the practical application of the same vein of thought expressed in the book “Rees Howells-Intercessor”, which a friend gave me to read a couple weeks ago. Having been instrumental in the Welsh Revival and later as a missionary in southern Africa, Rees returned to Wales and was led by God to start a Bible College to train missionaries. Here is one snapshot of what living it out in practice looked like.

“For twelve months they didn’t have a single lecture,…the time was spent shut in with God in prayer, and they were able to prove that the work did not depend on human support or popularity.”

“For years Mr Howells had been praying for the gospel to go to the world. Before he went to Africa, the Spirit brought before him God’s promise to His Son in Psalm 2:8. He had not let a day pass without praying that the Savior should have ‘the heathen for His inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession,’ and it was in willingness to be, in some measure, the answer to his own prayers that he had accepted the call to Africa.
Then, while in Africa, he had been struck by Andrew Murray’s comment on the Savior’s word in Matt. 9:38, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.” Andrew Murray had pointed out, on the strength of this verse, that the number of missionaries on the field depends entirely on the extent to which someone obeys that command and prays out laborers; and the Lord had called Mr. Howells to do this.
But this new word from God was to lay direct responsibility on him. It was no mere assent to the general command to preach the gospel to every creature. It meant, if accepted, that he and all who took it with him would be bond-servants for the rest of their days to this one task—to intercede, to go, to serve others who go—to be responsible for seeing that every creature hears the gospel. The way this commission was interpreted to Mr. Howells in concrete terms was that in the next thirty years the Holy Ghost would find 10,000 channels from all over the world—men and women whom he would enter and who would allow Him to take complete possession of them for this task, even as years before He had taken possession of His servant.

Rees Howells came out of his room a man with a vision and a burden which never left him—the “Every Creature Vision.” He brought it before the staff and students, and New Year’s Day 1935 was given to prayer and fasting. The presence of God was felt in a very real way and, while they did not minimize the enormity of the task, a deep and growing conviction took possession of many that God was going to do a new thing. It was a conviction that as really as the Savior came down to the world to make an atonement for every creature, so the Holy Ghost had come down to make that atonement known to every creature, and that He would complete it in their generation.

In a new sense the world began to be their parish. They began to be open for God to lay any prayer on them which would further the reaching of every creature with the gospel. They became responsible to intercede for countries and nations, as well as for individual missionaries and societies. The College became “a house of prayer for all nations. One form that this prayer warfare took was intercession on a national and international level concerning anything that affected world evangelization. Every creature must hear, therefore the doors must be kept open. Their prayers became strategic. They must face and fight the enemy wherever he was opposing freedom to evangelize. God was preparing an instrument—a company to fight world battles on their knees.”

There is more that I would like to share, but it will have to wait for another time. For now let’s join together to: Pray the Lord of the harvest to send for workers into His harvest.

Serving together,

Steve

Prayer does not fit us for greater works; prayer is the greater work. –Oswald Chambers (Oct. 17)