“Im here because, in the end, the truth is worth the risk.”
Ten points to whoever knows where that quote comes from before I tell you in a few paragraphs. Here is a hint. It has something, but also absolutely nothing to do with the Chronicles of Narnia. Ready go.
Now to explain the title. This little diddy comes to us from Mr. Justin Bieber, an inspiring young musician and role model for the youth of this generation. If you have never heard of or caught “Bieber Fever,” then it is probably safe to say that you are not a thirteen year old girl, nor do you live in a mud hut in the middle of the Mozambican wilderness. Yes, that’s right, Mozambique is on top of things when it comes to the latest in pop/hip-hop/whatever else you want to call it. As I lay in my tent under the cloudless sky on outreach last weekend I had the pleasure of listening to Justin as his lyrics droned across the African plain, just a few thousand decibels louder than the generator powering the speakers in the local bar hut.
The locals either really love the Biebs, or they were simply trying to find the most annoying way to battle our own sound system, which was maxed out with the sounds of pastors shouting in Portuguese and Makua, followed by the infamous Jesus movie that many of us have suffered through in our lives (like the old old old one, not the passion movie. You know what Im referring to, yeah?). Regardless of the poor acting and hilarious Makua dub overs found in this meek little film, the community of the little village we landed in that clear Thursday night still received Jesus in incredible and powerful ways.
First, a little bit of background story. We pieced together from several sources who could speak broken English or Portuguese that this particular village had been visited about the same time the year before. This outreach saw the salvation of six villagers from the practice of a mixture of Islam and witchcraft. The place had no church, seemingly few Christians, and a noticeable need for the love and power of Jesus.
Our first evening in the village sparked a quick interest in Jesus and his love for the people. After we showed the Jesus film the first time many people came to receive prayer from our team made up of a mix of harvest school missions students, visitors from Scotland, and Mozambican bible students. Many people were healed from things such as headaches or back injuries. These issues sound so small to us in the west, but when you put it into context it’s quite a big deal for these villagers. Many of them don’t have medication or pain killers to deal with things such as this, so even minor headaches and backaches can keep people from sleeping at night or working during the day, or whatever else they need to survive in the bush. The next morning we split up into three or four groups and went throughout the village streets asking people if they needed prayer. Our first stop was a very old lady who told us that she had constant pain throughout her body, and she also told us that her heart was hard, implying that it was not pumping like it should. We prayed for her pain to go away, and it did. Then we prayed for her heart and she felt it become stronger as well. This little old lady with sun leathered skin began jumping up and down with joy when she realized that Jesus had cared enough to take her pain away. After a few stories similar to this one we met a young man who had suffered a back injury. He walked up to us limping and it was obvious that he was in intense pain. We prayed for him two or three times and he was completely healed, skipping away like he was freed from a weight. These are just two of the many times Jesus touched and healed these people. After a while the word spread about what God was doing and many came to our group to lead us back to homes where family members needed prayer.
That night we began gathering the village to show the Jesus film again, and before we could even start the movie people were coming up and asking for healing prayer. This was a little surprising to me because usually the people don’t come up until after they hear the message about Jesus. It was encouraging to see the desire of these people to receive the love that Jesus had for them. It was this night that I had Justin Beiber lullaby our group to sleep until 2 in the morning. Regardless of how annoying the music was, we were all able to sleep well knowing that God was going to do terrific things with these people.
This quick two day trip into the bush refreshed my memory of just how important it is to do missions work. There are these people groups all across Africa, as well as other continents worldwide, who are just waiting for the love and the touch of Jesus. It reminded me that I need to be willing to go through anything to do what God has called me to do. Just this week Iris ministries has been put into jeopardy of being taken over and possibly shut down in this country. It is just another one of the many times that this ministry has been threatened by the enemy, but it is still an extremely serious event, and we are praying that the goodness of God shines through regardless of the outcome. Even in the midst of this threat the founders of Iris are trusting in God. Heidi told us in class, “Life isn’t always easy, but God is always good.” When you begin doing the things that God has called you to do, when you really begin walking in your destiny, you will face opposition. Even if that opposition means that you are displaced from your home, left without any food or water, beat, jailed, shot at, cut, or killed, always know that God is good. It’s funny that even a quote from a movie like A-Team can remind me of the importance of why I am here. “Im here because, in the end, the truth is worth the risk.” I don’t want to be worried about opposition, I don’t need to be. I don’t need to be afraid, or run from the things that God called me to, because in the end, it’s worth it. Rest in Him. Trust in Him. Seek Him. He is always good, His love will never give up, and it will never fail.
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