During that time one of the things that began to stand out to me was the power of God and the fear that he commanded. When I became a Christian in high school I could not comprehend the idea of fearing God. It made absolutely no sense to me. Love, that made sense. I hadn’t yet learned the important correlation between the two- Fear and Love. But as I was reading I was forced to revisit this idea of fearing the Lord. I remember in all of the gospels, whenever an angel would come it would be met with a strong reaction of fear. Every time. I began to think, if the sight of an angel commanded this much fear, what must it mean for the presence of God to strike fear in us.

I am continuing to learn how intimately fear and love and interconnected. In doing so God is allowing me to see more and more of who he is. The negative aspects that I first associated with God being deserving of fear have begun to dissipate. As I learn about his other characteristics, His justice, mercy and grace, that too helps me understand what a righteous fear of God is meant to look like.

Recently I have begun to think about this again. It started a few weeks ago. A short film series called NOOMA, previously working with Rob Bell, is now working on a new series with pastor/speaker Francis Chan. The first film of this series is entitled, “Fear God.” For a buck and fifteen minutes of your time you can watch it here: http://store.flannel.org/fear-god.html

A passage that Chan quotes from Psalm 111:10 stood out to me.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”

Hmmm.

Today I was reading through Acts. I was again struck by this idea of fear, but this time not just on an individual level but on a community level. In Acts 9, after Saul is confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus and then subsequently baptized and sent out, he goes to Jerusalem. While in Jerusalem he connects with the disciples and then goes out into the city “preaching boldly in the name of Jesus.” Then, in Acts 9:31 it says:

“So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.”

So I wonder, have we lost an understanding of what it looks like to fear God? Are our churches built and growing upon a healthy fear of God? Not a hellfire and brimstone version, scaring people toward the cross. Rather a grounded in scripture, full view of God, humbling fear.

Probably a good question for us to ask.

You may recognize Kevin. He lived across the street from me last year in Gacundezi and his mother prepared many of my meals. It was great to see him and his family again! His father is a leader of the Muslim church in Gacundezi and one of the strongest leaders in the community. I was blessed to have an hour or so to have tea and speak with him while here.

Meet John, he his an instructor at both Phoenix Seminary and Southwestern Bible School as well as the lead pastor at West Greenway Bible Church. He did an incredible job providing some biblical training to 15 or so pastors who represented roughly 25 local churches. John has a lot of fantastic initiatives he is planning on engaging once back in the states. I consider it a blessing to have served with him and I gained a friendship with an amazing man of God in the process! Check out his thoughts from the trip on his blog!

We spent several afternoons going into the community and making home visits. We learned more about the families we strived to serve in an intensely intimate environment. It is humbling being welcomed by these families. They face unbelievable challenges on a day to day basis, and yet, they are perhaps the most hospitable people I’ve ever met. We as westerners have a lot to learn.

This is one of the mothers of a child sponsored by the community to community project. She also was given materials from the training Vicki provided for mothers in Rwanda, equipping and organizing them to pray together, consistently, and fervently for their children, the school, and the community. The results were amazing and encouraging and I’m eager to see how this grows.

An image taken during the Mom’s in Touch training. Vicki led the mothers through an example of the programs prayer stucture. This image was taken when the mothers praying together during a breakout session. It was a powerful time!

This was one of my favorite images from the trip. Again, taken during the prayer time of the mothers training.

Vicki leading her training. By this point nearly 30 mothers were there.

Nothing particularly important about this image, other than its representation of a primary tool of transport. Really, I just liked the image

Meet Vestine, one of the programs sponsored through the community to community program. This program provides healthcare as well as school supplies and other various needs.

During our home visits the neighborhood children quickly surrounded us ‘muzungus’ and it was virtually impossible to get a picture with less than 20 kids. I crept away to get this one. I love the joy in the kids, yet that is equally met with a sadness of the state that most are living.

No caption necessary.

Many people live in homes built with mud, coated with concrete, and topped with a tin roof. This hut is indicative of the other common construction. While most no longer live in these huts (some do), it is still around and often used for livestock.

This carving was at the house of one of the business partners of the multiple initiatives the team is working on, including a travel lodge in the game park.

I don’t have a lot of time for an update, but am sitting at the same internet “cafe” as I did last year while in the Eastern Province. It is powered by satellite and I am currently hoping this e-mail (being typed ofline) will make it online, this will happen if my Rwandan friend can find me an extra ethernet cable. This could end up being a nice note to myself.

Under the usumption that this will infact get posted. Here is a quick update!

We arrived in Rwanda on Saturday. Sunday was spent in the capital of Kigali. We stayed at a catholic guest house and spent the morning at a local church. It was a beautiful service and I’m always appreciative of the ability of other cultures to let loose and just worship God. We got a good bite to eat for lunch and had a fairly relaxed evening preparing for our departure to the east the following morning. We arrived in the eastern district of Nyagatare Monday afternoon.  Our time has been packed since!

We have been following up on the multiple initiatives of the project including health care, education, business and pastoral training (see video in my previous post for more).

I haven’t had the time to reflect on much of what has happened yet, but plan to do so and post more details. But here are three things that are worthy of mention thus far:

1. There have been a lot of people I have seen from last time. Very encouraging. Also, some which are not here for various reasons. It has been encouraging seeing progress and growth in our absence.

2. I am working on a video for Phoenix Seminary and the various churches involved in this project. It will be used to communicate the project here in Rwanda. It’s my first time doing film on my Canon 7d so it’s been a bit hit and miss. That said I’m pretty happy with the results and eager to give you all a look at what I see here.

3. When John and I were leading a couple hour sesion with secondary school students we opened it up for the boys to ask us any questions they wanted covering litterally any topic. We got a lot of the normal goofy questions, and lots of questions about american culture. Then one of the boys asked us to comment on the 1994 genocide. It was an abrupt dose of weight to the otherwise light hearted conversation. We initially didn’t fully answer the question but about 20 minutes later God had put it on my heart to talk to the 50 or so men about the topic. My fear was that our lack of acknowledgement of the quesiton would feed into the hurt for many Rwandans which feel there has been a lack of acknowledgement of the Genocide by the rest of the world. I spoke to them first asking a simple quesiton. What do you do when someone wrongs you? The conversation lead to the topic of forgiveness at which point I was able to highlight the fact that forgiveness never comes without a cost. I talked about the true reality of what it means to be a man and that the temptation is always to meet wrong doing with wrong doing. God lead me to close the time by bringing it back to the cross. Teaching that the sin driven genocide in Rwanda was evil and horrible, it was genocide and it was not okay. And yet sin also presents itself in the smaller examples we had discussed when talking about forgivness. I told them that there was a price to pay for all of this, and that was the price Christ paid on the cross.

It went longer than I expected but it was the most intimate time I have felt with God or with anyone here. It was a blessing to be used by God to speak into such a sensitive topic. I would ask that each of you would take a moment to pray for these young men an the watering of seeds such as this. That God may build in them strength as a generation desperately trying to move past such a tragic history.

Time is up here! Hope to post more soon. Thanks for all the prayers, its been a huge blessing! Praise God!

This is a question I have been asked over and over since returning. Some people want to know what God did in my time there. Others are curious about what I learned from the culture in Rwanda. Still others are merely keeping up with common courtesy in asking about my experience. And most are probably a combination of the above.

Since returning I’ve contemplated how to best answer this question. A proper response is especially tricky in that I am still trying to answer that for myself. The truth is I don’t know that I can boil this down to a clean answer, an answer that can be given by rephrasing the above question: In my time in Africa I walked away with _______.

Instead I am coming to acknowledge that times like I experienced the the past few months are merely periods in our life which shape us. They add a new layer to the lenses we see life through. It is in these periods that our understanding of the world is expanded, that we better comprehend the state of the human condition. By being exposed to a new culture, to a new people, a new set of problems and new sources of joy, I can now more clearly understand both God and the people around me (given this is still an infinitely inadequate and minuscule understanding).

While it is difficult to walk away from this experience and boil it down to a few key speaking points, what I can do is explain how I feel it has reshaped my eternal existence and understanding. Because as much as I appreciate the other areas of my life that are and were impacted, it is in the eternal changes that I find the most encouragement and hope. And whether or not my experience in these changes was one in which God would have worked out whether in Africa or in the states, the fact of the matter is he used my time there, his word, many conversations with people, several books, and the guidance of his Spirit to dig deep in my soul, churning the soil, and reworking the roots of my faith. In doing so he pruned away at the unhealthy or perverted parts of the roots, ripped out those that have been rotted, and provided the foundation for future growth.

You see, it has been my experience as a Christian that I engage Christianity as a culture; the language, the habits, the rituals, much quicker than I actually understand the depth of what I am talking about. I suspect that this process is similar to what most Christians go through. In fact, it is probably in the midst of this that Christians are often criticized as being hypocritical. If we talk without living out the truth of those words we raise flags to the world around us. And sadly, it is in the lives of those Christians that begin the journey, only to stop digging, stop allowing God to purge through the worldliness in them, that Christianity is given a poor reputation. To paraphrase what Rob Bell so appropriately stated, many people confuse Christianity with Christ and end up walking away from both.

If only we as Christians could better portray the underlying mantra of our faith, that we are NOT perfect. That we are broken, that we are full of sin, and that we desperately need the intervention of something, someone greater than our selves! Perhaps if that was how the world saw Christians then there would be a more accurate and true understanding of who Christ is, and the importance of our savior upon the cross and his resurrection. If only we were the light to the world we were called to be, if only I was that light.

You may think I am getting off topic, how does the hypocrisy of Christians (myself included), or the underlying message of Christianity relate to my time in Africa? Back to my previous statement; God has and is reshaping the core of my eternal understandings. I mentioned in one of my first posts while in Africa that God was reworking my understanding of the cross. He did. In the last 4 months God has reconstructed my understanding of Grace, of the cross, and of the fullness and truth that comes from the Good News, the Gospel.

What is the Good News?

The gospel has been demonstrated to me in one of two ways. For evangelical Christians the gospel is lived out through evangelism, in other words, sharing the good news (of Christ upon the cross and then his resurrection three days later) with those who have not yet understood or recognized the beauty that came from this event. How beautiful it is when someone has this shared, when someone for the first time realizes the true grace of God; that his love was demonstrated in that while we were still sinners- broken beings driven by our own selfish motives, he sent his son Jesus to pay the debt of our sins.

The other way I have seen the gospel explained is through those who believe that it is in serving others, in bringing justice to the world that the gospel is best demonstrated. It is here that people say Christ’s love is best understood, in the physical love of others in this world. And so social justice becomes the most important this. Fighting for the poor, the oppressed. Becoming a voice and advocate for the widows and orphans, those who Christ so clearly has a heart for.

I walk away from my time in Rwanda asking the question; when did these become separate? Since when is the gospel something that is compartmentalized into a portion of our life. Since when did the greatest act of love in the history of man become a set of rules, or a mission statement pertinent to only Sundays or mission trips. Since when did the gospel mean keeping track of how many people are attending church in the same way bookies account for their winnings?

It is becoming more and more apparent that the transformative power of Christ is found in the truth of the gospel. The gospel isn’t simply a religious sales pitch with the underlying message, “embrace Christ so that you go to Heaven and not hell.” Further, it isn’t a security blanket that covers over the pains and hurts of the current world. The gospel, in my current understanding is this:

I am imperfect. I sin. By that I mean that I put myself before others including God. I am created in the image of God, I can sense that, I can see parts of me that long for eternity. Yet, I also sense that I am not fully what I was created to be. I subscribe to the biblical definition and explanation of sin. That we were created with a high intention, but through the fall of man away from God, we departed from God’s purpose for our lives. This can be seen all over the world. Murder, rape, hunger, poverty, AIDS/HIV, abuse, unfaithfulness, slander, gossip…this isn’t how it was supposed to be.

Having this understanding that I am lacking, that we are lacking, I see the grace that God has for us. Christ lived perfectly, he lived a life that brought forth life, and then he served as a sacrifice for all of us, a perfect and spotless sacrifice. So it is when we acknowledge our imperfection, and then the perfection of the resurrected Christ that we are made free. We owed a debt to God that we could not pay, no matter how hard we tried, but through love God sent his Son to cover that debt on our behalf. If we will simply acknowledge that truth we can begin the journey towards restoration.
And so that decision, that acknowledgment is the beginning of the power of the gospel, it is in that moment that we start our eternal journey, but that isn’t where we stop, waiting for death and then heaven.

That isn’t the gospel.

The beauty of the gospel is that God includes us in His redemptive story. When Christ walked the earth, he didn’t just come to be a nice guy for thirty or so years prior to the crucifixion. His birth marked the beginning of God redeeming creation. What did Christ do while here? He physically healed people, he raised people from the dead, he forgave sin! He wasn’t just a good teacher, he was restoring creation. He was taking what was broken, and redeeming it to its original purpose and design. He was showing us what the gospel was, and then what did he do prior to being crucified? He invited us into the story. Read the Gospel of John. Jesus tells us that as he leaves we who put our trust in him will be filled with the Spirit of God. He then says we will go on to do works even greater than what we saw from him. This is unbelievable! Christ began the process of transforming a broken lost world, in the midst of it he not only redeems our very lives but then calls us into this redeeming story. A story that we know ends with his return at which point he will finally finish the process. Doing away with sin, with evil and with death.

So what is the gospel? Is it evangelism or is it serving others? Its both! It’s all of it and more. The gospel is the transforming power in our lives that should affect every moment of our existence.

It should change how we interact with those who serve us.

It should change how we respond when we are angry.

It should change how we manage our money.

It should bring about a heart of repentance and forgiveness.

It should be a catalyst for love being sent forth into the world.

It should bring hope and encouragement to others.

When we make the gospel one part of our lives we limit God’s impact on our lives. We stop God from having a voice in our lives and try to contain where and how he will affect us. And even worse, we pervert his image to the world around us.

So what did I take away from my time in Africa?

I hope that I have returned to the states with a better understanding of my purpose in life. That I have gained just a little bit of insight on the transformative power of God, and the capacity I have to be used by Him if I will both listen and obey. I return having a better understanding of my own sin, and his willingness to not only embrace me in that brokenness, but to redeem me, lifting me up to be something more than I could ever do on my own.

I suspect I will continue to learn more and more what God did while I was in Rwanda. I suspect that this time will have a lasting impact on many areas of my life. Ultimately, I hope that if nothing else, it will raise some questions in your life, that perhaps, you will see where God is pushing on your own heart. I humbly suggest that as a possibility and wouldn’t presume that it has anything to do with me. But that is my hope.

Today the park still covers a large distance of land on the Rwandan/Tanzanian border. The government recently prepared a north entrance to the park which just opened this year. You have the option of going from the North entrance all the way through the park and exiting the south entrance, this takes about 6 hours and required a solid 4 wheel drive vehicle. What we did was spend about four hours in the northern area of the park looping through and around both dense bush and open fields.

We had a great time and saw a variety of animals including hippopotamus, giraffe, gazelle, snake, water buffalo, zebras and many more! Check out some of the pictures below, and, to see more pictures click on the slideshow image at the end of this post.

Click below to see more pictures from the Safari!

]]> http://chrismaddoxblog.com/2009/06/safari-akagera-national-park/feed/ 0 http://chrismaddoxblog.com/2009/06/highlands-team-house-visits-in-gacundezi/ http://chrismaddoxblog.com/2009/06/highlands-team-house-visits-in-gacundezi/#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:32:28 +0000 chris http://chrismaddoxblog.com/?p=685

One of the last things that the group team from Highlands did was, perhaps,  one of the most impactful for many of them, the house visits. Several of the children sponsored by different team members lived close to school. So, after the farewell celebration that was done by the students (see last post), the team members split up into smaller groups and went out into the community with FH staff to visit some of the families.

Of all the things the team was able to do while in Rwanda this was probably one of the most raw and authentic experiences. No longer are you focused on a vision that includes so many, no longer are you talking about them, suddenly it all boils down to one single child who lives in one particular family.  Some of the families visited had both a mom and a dad taking care of the many children, some were single parents, other children were taken care of by only a grandmother or grandfather. All of the families lived in modest homes, their caregivers working their land and livestock to ensure the survival of their kids.

Their seemed to be multiple periods of sweet and unspoken connections during these visits. Though most parents spoke no English, the translators weren’t needed to communicate the heart of what was being said. While the children appreciated meeting their sponsors, and I’m sure loved getting the small gifts, the parents understood what was being provided to their children that they simply couldn’t provide on their own. There was a humbling appreciation that radiated from the eyes of these parents, as if you were seeing their very hearts gleaming through.  With kind embraces and gentle handshakes they would warmly greet their guests, always inviting them in to their homes.

The visits didn’t last long; usually no more than fifteen to twenty minutes each. But in that time everything became clearer. The struggles of the families, obstacles before them, the hope they still carried, the joy they held tightly to. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. In my experience, Christ is always magnified more in the lives of those who face the biggest struggles, the darkest darkness, or the most difficult roads. It is in these places that hope, grace, and joy seem so unattainable, and yet with him, seem like the only thing that truly matters. It saddens me that in our lives of comparative comfort back in the states we are reminded of this truth seldom and far between. We don’t cling to the grace of God because we must actively seek the reality of that truth; we don’t acknowledge the hope we have in Him, because we surround ourselves by artificial hope; and we don’t realize that we stand in darkness, because many times darkness just looks a lot different for us.

It is my hope that this time was as valuable for the Highlands team members as I suspect it was. I also hope it was a time of encouragement for those visited, a time of sweet reunion between souls striving on towards the same end goal. For me it was another reminder on this journey that when it all boils down to it the only thing that is left is relationships.

People and the Triune God.
That’s it.

When we lost sight of this we lose sight both of what holds us together and what gives us life. It is my prayer that this understanding in my life will continue to be built upon. But for now, what a sweet and beautiful reminder.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,  from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped,when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16)