Saturday, August 4th
The English portion of the sign said: “laenach ready, homely cooking.” What message have I actually conveyed?
We like things to end with a bang – a climatic emphasis. We like to see that we have served some purpose – something has been accomplished.
Well, these last days of teaching have certainly had a bang. The other day we were teaching in a village and a drum corp started practicing nearby. A drum fanfare to our teaching? No, a neighbor to our church there was retiring from the railroad and they were having a celebration. OK it was loud but it seemed we could shout over it. But then it came nearer and nearer. And then bang! Bang! Bang! I literally jumped. I really thought it was large calibre gun blasts for a moment. They were fire crackers but larger than any I have heard in the US, more like to the loud, deep bang of the professional 4th of July fanfare. Not only were fireworks now going off but the drum corp stopped right next to the patio we were meeting in. There was no way we could continue teaching. It was amazingly loud, like having a full drum corp playing their loudest in your living room. After about 15 minutes they moved on through other parts of the village. So soon it was more in the background and we could continue. Yet, after a while we could hear the drum beat crescendo as they returned. Soon the jarring reverberations were again, in a sense, shaking the patio and every sense and thought. Once again they stopped adjacent to our patio and drove out all alternate communication for about 15 minutes. So the bang of Mt Sinai was very apparent. Any drum corp, any worldly celebration can provide it. How easy it is for man, for the world, to out shout the gospel. A momentary thrill and a lot of noise that sooner or later dies. Their celebration is always of something that ends. What can these bangs accomplish? The wind, fire and earthquake can finally only threaten and destroy. But returning to the gospel we could share the still, quiet voice of God’s word, the message of the forgiveness of sins in the blood of Jesus Christ. He alone gives the peace that passes all understanding.
I have been traveling with Missionary Ude for just six weeks. My passing through will have little effect. But God’s word is obviously having a great impact, a silent but hell shattering bang, in all the places I have had the chance to visit. What a privilege to share for a short time in this gospel teaching. Your support of our missionaries is carrying on this ministry of reconciliation in many places and times. The world will often not even notice nor listen to the message. But in this quiet message is the real bang. For here the Holy Spirit is quietly working to open the prisons, set captives free and usher them into the eternal jubilee of our Lord. To Him be the glory.
