Friday, February 13, 2009

Why are we going to Nigeria?

Because God said.

I suppose there are a number of stories I could tell. I will try to start at the beginning. Or at least one of the beginnings. The beginning of this particular story goes back to a camp meeting a summer night a few years ago.

He said, “Go to Ethiopia.” I said, “okay.” Shortly thereafter I told my wife, my boss, my pastor, I’m going to Ethiopia. Because God said.

Things didn’t quite turn out that way. I tried to go, honestly, I did. I did everything in my power to make that trip happen. To this day I believe Ethiopia will happen. I don’t know when and I don’t know why, but I believe that God asked me to do it, and I am willing to go.

What about her? Yes, I knew you were wondering about that one. She didn’t believe me when i told her that I was going to go to Ethiopia, just for a visit, and that she didn’t have to come. She knew better. She knew something else lay ahead for us.

Fast forward six, seven years. Here we are. Almost packed and ready to go. Almost ready to go and hardly packed at all. And it’s Nigeria, and that is a story in and of itself. God has spoken to each of us on various occasions, confirming that initial call in various ways. And so we go, trusting in His Word.

Bottom line: We’re going because the Lord called us to go. More often than not, God gives you an instruction, or the outline, if you will, and then it’s up to you to fill in the details. That’s where we’re at, I guess. Working on the details.