Skip to main content

Numb




On my recent trip to Mutarara with ASAM, the celebration had ended and we were just about to leave the village.  I was told that someone wanted to give us something for the mission, to say thank you. Well my background informed me to get ready to accept a cheque. We gathered in a semi circle and a young man stood before us clutching an old worn back pack. Large cheque I thought! He opened the bag and out popped a live chicken. Oh  this is interesting - where in my training was I prepared for this? So I took my lead from my friend Joao and the young man told his short but eventful story.

He wanted to give us a chicken to say thank you for showing care. 
He wanted to say thank you to the mission for the help they gave, when his wife was pregnant with their child.
He wanted to say thank you, for helping him after his wife died after giving birth.
He wanted to say thank you to the mission for giving milk for the child after the birth.
He wanted to say thank you, after this, his only child, died, and the mission somehow continued to show him help. 
This young man who had lost his wife and child wanted to say thank you for the help the mission had given him. 
I received the chicken and prayed for the young man, feeling numb and humble.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Response To Bishop North

A while back Bishop Phillip North spoke to New Wine and caused a bit of a reaction one of it was a Tweet to my millions of followers. In response I had a phone call from The Church Times asking for a quote because I serve in a poor parish, I declined and said I would put a more considered response on my blog, so here it is with a link to The Bishops full talk. https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2017/4-august/news/uk/there-s-a-future-for-the-church-if-evangelicals-put-the-poor-first-bishop-north-tells-new-wine 1.      One of the issues the church does not recognise is the exportation of people , talents and money from parishes like mine to middle class parishes which is draining and demanding on leadership. For 10 years I thought I was building a community, then it dawned on me I was building people up to go to other places. 2.      Bishop Phillip talks of abandonment of the poor: I think it’s more complicated than that. When ...
9 comments
Read more

LA 1

just arrive in LA. let me tell you the difficult bit of travel always seems to be getting from station to hotel on public transport. arriving at the hostel/hotel i discover i have lost a sandle i must have had them 5 years. i was trying to be cool and straping them the back of my rucksack. im thinking of lobying Birmingham city councuil to plant palm trees on the Tyburn Road they transform the landscape and we could all listen to Hotel California in the 67 bus. room is not ready yet the loby is trendy and has a young feeling abut it hope the room lives up to the entrance. now let me see i have two priorities 1 find a church 2 find where the womens voleyball is playing tomorrow better get a shower first
2 comments
Read more

YWAM Nensa

Mercy Air trip to  YWAM  Nen s a ,  Mozambique The  first mission trip of our  ‘ new normal ’   in South Africa  happened last week.   Azarja , our pilot, flew the team ;  which included Bruce, Stephen, Erin and Nigel  in the Cessna 310. We traveled from Mercy Air; to Kruger International (to exit SA); to Beira (to enter Mozambique); then on to Marromeu (12 hours total, including long waits for permits and visas – This is Africa!)   The drive by car ( in a  4x4) would take about 3 days on some very difficult ,  non-tarmac roads.  Allison and Leanna  drove  the final  1  1/2  hours  from Marromeu  to the YWAM base  at  Nensa .  As a rookie African  M ission ary,  I did  initially   feel a bit like Michel Palin without the film crew. The common red sand  road,  so   many people walking into the dark , headlamp beams throwing themsel...
4 comments
Read more