Theology of Suffering - David and the Psalms: Episode 3

This is the last of three blogs on a Theology of Suffering taking from David and the Psalms. 
Here are the first and second episodes. 

Episode 3 – The Cave of Adullam

picture from inside the Cave of Adullam

1 Samuel 22:1, 3, “So David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and all his other relatives joined him there…..” Later David went to Mizpeh in Moab, where he asked the king, “Please allow my father and mother to live here with you until I know what God is going to do for me.”

Eventually, God does give direction and the prophet tells David “Leave the stronghold and return to the land of Judah.” (1 Samuel 22:5)

Principles:

• Concern for the weaker folks in his midst. 
• Living in uncertainty and waiting on God for direction. "Until I know what God is going to do for me" indicates a faith in God, even though he is currently waiting on direction. 

The Cave, The Cross, The Crucible

There are some who suggest that David had to go to the cave as a crucible – his own cross.  We see other Biblical leaders who had their “cave” experiences before taking on the role God had for them:  Joseph thrown into a hole and eventually in prison in Egypt, Moses in the desert for 40 year, and now David.

This was a time of stripping everything away bringing him to a place where he had nothing to trust in but God.

David wrote at least 3 Psalms in this period and there is a visible progression of his dealing with the suffering, and his trust in the Sovereignty of God, even in a very dark place.

 Psalm 142

A psalm of David, regarding his experience in the cave. A prayer.

1 I cry out to the Lord;  I plead for the Lord’s mercy.2 I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles.3 When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. Wherever I go, my enemies have set traps for me.4 I look for someone to come and help me, but no one gives me a passing thought!No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me.5 Then I pray to you, O  Lord. I say, “You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life.6 Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.
7 Bring me out of prison so I can thank you. The godly will crowd around me, for you are good to me.”

Facts/Feelings:

• Overwhelmed
• Trapped
• Abandoned, like no one is concerned for him.

Principles:

• Processing with God. Pouring out his complaints to God
• Counting God as his refuge

There is much less resolution for David in Psalm 142 than in Psalm 57, which was likely written later. Sometimes it's okay to be in that spot, where things are not all worked out. 

Psalm 57

looking up the valley at the cave

For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time he fled from Saul and went into the cave. To be sung to the tune “Do Not Destroy!”

1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection.I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by.2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.3 He will send help from heaven to rescue me, disgracing those who hound me.My God will send forth his unfailing love and faithfulness.4 I am surrounded by fierce lions who greedily devour human prey— whose teeth pierce like spears and arrows, and whose tongues cut like swords.5 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens! May your glory shine over all the earth.6 My enemies have set a trap for me. I am weary from distress. They have dug a deep pit in my path, but they themselves have fallen into it.7 My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises!8 Wake up, my heart! Wake up, O lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song.9 I will thank you, Lord, among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations.10 For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth.

Principles:

• Hiding in God’s protection
• Praising, singing, exalting God
• Thanking God publicly,  among the people.

What was David’s Theology of Suffering?

David saw the wisdom of evacuation at times and faced the hardship of innocent people being killed around him. He consulted of the Lord and sometimes received crucial information allowing him to escape. Other times information was not forthcoming and people died as a result of uninformed his choices. And sometimes he was content to just wait for information to come when God was ready. 

He was happy to trust God for the accomplishment of His will in his good time, even if that was years later. And he rejoiced in the Lord’s protection – even when that was simply a cave in the side of a mountain,

because GOD was his place of safety.

See also: Theology of Risk Part II - David

David and the Psalms - Episode II

This is part two of a series on a Theology of Suffering based on David's reaction to painful experiences in his life. The first episode was on Ahimelech and Doeg. (BTW, I just love saying "Doeg". I am pretty sure that oe indicated an umlaut: Dög). 

Episode 2 – Captive of King Achish of Gath

David presents himself to King Achish (pictures from the BrickTestament)

At the end of 1 Samuel 21 (:10-13), David flees from Saul to King Achish of Gath. King’s Achish’s men report of David’s battle prowess and "David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 

So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard."

That's right, our King on the Run is drooling in his beard and pretending to be insane - not unlike Hamlet who was only "mad north by northwest". 

Let's look at how David frames this episode in the Psalm he wrote about it. It becomes obvious that writing Psalms was a form of journalling and reflection as well as a dialogue with God.

Psalm 56:

For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time the Philistines seized him in Gath. To be sung to the tune “Dove on Distant Oaks.”

1  O God, have mercy on me, for people are hounding me.

My foes attack me all day long.

2  I am constantly hounded by those who slander me, and many are boldly attacking me.

3 But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.

4 I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?

5 They are always twisting what I say; they spend their days plotting to harm me.

6 They come together to spy on me— watching my every step, eager to kill me.

7 Don’t let them get away with their wickedness; in your anger, O God, bring them down.

8 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle.

You have recorded each one in your book.

9 My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help. This I know: God is on my side!

10 I praise God for what he has promised; yes, I praise the Lord for what he has promised.

11 I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?

12 I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help.

13 For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping.

So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light.

Facts:

• Constantly hounded
• Slandered
• Afraid
• Death threats

Principles:

• God is aware of his sorrows. I really like verse 8 where we see that God not only knows about my sorrows, but is gathering all my tears and writing down all my sorrows in his book!
• God is on his side!
• No fear in what mortals can do to him. Trust in the midst of fear. [Though note that this seems to contradict his actions of pretending to be insane.] 
• Sacrifice of thanks - in the midst of captivity. What does he really have to be thankful about at this point? 
• Walking in God’s presence. 

It seems to me that in these imprecatory Psalms David is trying to talk his heart into feeling what his head knows to be true. 

Theology of Suffering - David and the Psalms - Episode I

This past week I helped teach a Crisis Response Training workshop under the auspices of the Mobile Member Care Team. I took a version of this workshop in 2003 and it was there that I was made aware that we all have a Theology of Risk and of Suffering. And that got me started on a life-long study of these ideas, something made easier by dealing with a considerable number of crises. 

One thing that became obvious to me as I worked through the workshop materials again was the distinction between a Theology of Risk and a Theology of Suffering. The ideas had become intertwined in my thinking. It was only when I was asked to do a devotional on Theology of Suffering that I realized that what I had prepared had more to do with Risk. 

A Theology of Suffering really looks at PRESENT and PAST suffering and how to understand it. 

• Does God allow it? 
• What is its purpose? 
• Does it mean I have done something wrong?
• If we are doing God's will, why does he allow these things to happen to us?  

A Theology of Risk builds on the answers to these questions. It looks forward in the FUTURE to plan for negative events that will bring loss, suffering and possibly death. 

• Are these things to be avoided at all costs? 
• Should they be mitigated to allow maximal work for kingdom purposes? 
• Does God provide protection if we are doing his will? 
• Is it fearful to look at real dangers and pull back?

__________________________

This is a revision of my previous blogpost on a Theology of RISK in David's life, looking at how he dealt with suffering in those same stories. 

King David had an interesting response to suffering. 

He definitely believed that God could protect him and kill his enemies as he had with Goliath.  

“You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head.… And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”1 Samuel 17:45-47

But he did not expect God’s victorious provision and rescue to happen every time, at least not immediately. He had confidence that it would happen someday even if today was one where evil men were triumphing over him.

This “man after God’s heart” was a complex and nuanced man, living in a complex world. He is mentioned in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11:32-34 and lines up nicely with the ones on the victorious side of the list. 

32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

But also seems to fit in with those mentioned in vs 37-38 who 

“went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.”

In fact, David was on the run from 1 Samuel 19 – 2 Samuel 1, - fourteen chapters -  a refugee, unable to claim the throne and destiny promised to him by God.

He had a call – an obvious anointing to be King. How did he reconcile that promise with the obvious fact that God was not bringing that about?

In David’s actions, we see a bedrock confidence in the Sovereignty of God. He knew that God had a purpose for everything that was going on, even if he didn't understand. He also had convictions about what it meant to be “the Lord’s anointed” and that respect for God’s designs carried over how he related to Saul.  

Throughout his time on the run, there were plenty of laments against God and cries for justice that are immortalized for us in the psalms. Let’s look at a few of those against the backdrop of the events he was facing.

Episode one – Ahimelech and Doeg

After David fled from Saul, he travels to Nob to see Ahimelech the priest in 1 Samuel 21. Ahimelech is frightened to see David by himself with no troops. David lies to the priest (!) saying he is on a secret mission for the king. He asks for bread and is given the Bread of the Presence and the Goliath’s sword which he accepted. (Surely this was a reminder to him of God’s power to protect him, even as he fled.)

Apparently the whole encounter with Ahimelech is overheard by “Doeg the Edomite”, Saul’s chief herdsman (vs 7), who eventually recounts this to Saul.

Some time later, in 1 Samuel 22:9-22, we see the sad consequences of David’s visit to. Doeg went back and reported the incident to Saul who sent his men and Doeg himself to slaughter Ahimelech and the rest of the Lord’s priests: “eighty-five priests in all, still wearing their priestly garments. Then he went to Nob, the town of the priests, and killed the priests’ families—men and women, children and babies”

David, as leader, feels responsible for all that happened: “I knew it! When I saw Doeg the Edomite there that day, I knew he was sure to tell Saul. Now I have caused the death of all your father’s family.” (:22)

This story is troubling on many levels. We see here the heavy weight that is on leaders and also the unintended and unexpected consequences that our actions and decisions can have on others who are “innocent bystanders”. Ahimelech had “consulted God for David.” Why, during this time of consultation with Ahimelech, did God not reveal Saul’s plans to them so that these 85 priests and their families might be spared? No answer is given and we are left to trust that God was in control and had good purposes to accomplish out of this.

Let’s look at how David interpreted this - what principles to draw from it?

Psalm 52:

For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Doeg the Edomite said to Saul, “David has gone to see Ahimelech.”

1 Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior?
Don’t you realize God’s justice continues forever?
2 All day long you plot destruction. Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor; you’re an expert at telling lies.
3 You love evil more than good and lies more than truth.
4 You love to destroy others with your words, you liar!

5 But God will strike you down once and for all. He will pull you from your home
and uproot you from the land of the living.
6 The righteous will see it and be amazed. They will laugh and say,
7 “Look what happens to mighty warriors who do not trust in God.
They trust their wealth instead and grow more and more bold in their wickedness.”

8 But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.
9 I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done. I will trust in your good name in the presence of your faithful people.

Principles to help while in Suffering:

• Remember that God will deliver justice one day.
• Trust in God’s Unfailing love – in his good name.
• David thrives in God’s presence, like an olive tree!

Look for Episode 2 and 3 coming soon. 

Mercy drops round us are falling

So today I had the day off today after working on "the Mother of all Spreadsheets" all day Friday, Saturday and most of Monday.

I slept until just about 10 a.m. - just in time to go over for coffee break at work. I decided to take some books, some podcasts and music to listen to, my journal and just camp out on these lovely rocks that are not too far from my office.

I ride or walk past this spot every day and recently I realized it would be a nice spot to come and relax. In Mali, I would sometimes go to the National Park and sit and read and was a bit sad that there was no similar place here, until I realized there was one right under my nose.

After listening to a podcast, reading a "Father Brown" story and then some in "Tell it Slant" by Eugene Petersen, I started writing in my journal. The rock I was on was a bit cold or hard or something so I moved to a smaller one out in the sun.

And then I looked down and saw something glistening in the grass. It looked like a diamond, or perhaps a piece of glass. I reached down half expecting to find an earring someone had lost in the grass. But it was a drop of dew, or perhaps a rain drop from last night's big rain. It was already 1 pm and I was a bit surprised to find either.

Then I started looking and there were drops on dozens of leaves.


The more I looked, the more there were. There are at least 5 drops in the picture below.




This is my favorite of the pictures, with the perfectly round drop in the middle of this leaf.



My rock was on a fairly well-traveled path, and 2 people came by and so I showed them the drops and we all shared the wonder together.

I began to think of the songs that compare God's Mercy to dew drops

 

"Mercy drops round us are falling. . . "

or

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

---------------------

How often do I miss these drops of mercy, these signs of God's love? They are out there in the grass probably every day and I rush by them to the office.

As I was writing that in my journal, just to make sure I did not miss the wonder of the moment, God sent me a little TINY praying mantis who hopped right up in my journal.

He stopped a while on the word "budget" and decided his leg needing cleaning.




Somehow he was entirely fearless. I put him on my pen and he scrambled off and even crawled up the page as I turned the pages.



So those were my gifts from God today.

If it's been a while since you stopped to sit quietly and make room for God to surprise you with wonder and grace, do it.

[PS. if you like the pics, you can see them in full res at https://www.flickr.com/photos/timthast/]

Ebola Virus Disease - Giving Opportunities

The past several weeks I have been busy developing an Ebola Crisis Response for our organization for the countries where we work in Africa. We don't do health work, so mostly we have been thinking through the "what if it spreads to where we are" scenarios. I have received good input from some experts and spent a lot of time reading the internet news and it is sobering. 

Basic information can be found about Ebola on the WHO site here. An update with Recent stats can be found here (look for most recent date). As of Aug 28 there have been 1552 deaths out of a total of 3069 infected. As of Sept 6, there have been 2,296 deaths out of 4293 cases. [That's a thousand new cases in a week!] The good news is that the death rate seems to be about 55% for this outbreak instead of 90% which was first reported. 

This outbreak now has more victims than all the other Ebola outbreaks combined since its first appearance in the 1970s. More than 40 percent of the cases in this outbreak have been recorded in the past 3 weeks. 

The WHO is saying that we should expect a total of 20,000 cases and that this may not be under control for another 6 to 9 months. Everyone seems to be saying that global efforts are behind the curve on resolving this and that we must act now. 

What is surprising me is that I am not seeing a massive appeal to GIVE towards Ebola eradication. We have just seen the ALS ice-bucket challenge which raised over $100 million according to Wikipedia. Sadly, we are not seeing the same response in giving to the Ebola Crisis. 
Everywhere I look I see desperate cries for resources: such and such a group just got 35 beds for their isolation and treatment center but have twice that many patients and some are on the ground. Or that they don't have enough gloves or Personal Protection Equipment (gloves, masks, suits), etc. The need for funding, supplies, and people on the ground is great. 
The UN just released a total need of $600 million. 
And that UN figure has been revised to $1.26 billion to fight Ebola in West Africa. This figure has doubled in less than a month!. 

I'm not in the habit of asking you for money, but this is a serious need affecting a lot of countries who simply do not have the means or infrastructure to handle this. 

Would you consider giving to one of these organizations working to combat Ebola in Africa? (links below)
There are no stipulations here and you don't have to challenge your friends. If you want to share the link to my blog or any of these sites, that would be fine though. 

Doctors without Borders - Medicins Sans Frontiers - MSF has been responding to the outbreak since March, and now has 1,327 staff working in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, treating a rapidly increasing number of patients. DWB/MSF is traditionally the go-to organization for medical relief. 

• Doctors without Borders: US site, UK site, Canada site 

• Medicines Sans Frontiers (France)

• Ärzte ohne Grenzen (Germany)

Center for Disease Control (Atlanta) - Together with the WHO, the CDC is coordinating much of the research and testing of Ebola. 

Red Cross

Global Giving: Text GIVE 17793 to 80088 to donate $10 to GlobalGiving Ebola Epidemic Relief Fund.( texting only works in US)

Christian ministries focused on specific countries or aspects of the work

Samaritan's Purse: This is the mission which had the well-publicized case of Dr Kent Brantley and SIM nurse who were medevacked to the US after treating ebola patients.

SIM. Run the ELWA hospital in Liberia where a lot of the treatment is happening, including that done by Nancy Writebol who was also medevacked. To give, go to this page and search for Ebola. 

World Renew (formerly CRWRC): education and prevention efforts in Sierra Leone and Liberia. 

Women of Hope International: producing training materials for use in Sierra Leone and elsewhere. Our organization is hoping to translate some of these into local languages. 

CAMA (Christian and Missionary Alliance): Ebola Awareness and Preventation training in Guinea. [New] Pray for their team members who were abudcted Sept 17, 2014. 

You could also check out your church or denomination sites to see if they have giving options. 

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, ... When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:35-40

To check out any of these organizations and their track record with donations, please go to one of these sites. 
http://www.charitynavigator.org/ - general
http://www.ecfa.org/ - for Christian organizations

50 years – The Fifth Decade 2004 -2014 – The One with the Sabbatical

I turned fifty last month and wrote 4 blogposts looking at each decade of my life. I got as far as 2004, when I was well-established in field administration. This is the installment that brings us up to the present and then “to infinity and beyond”.

Places lived: Mali, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, USA. 

Verse:

Jeremiah 6:16
This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No that’s not the road we want!’”

Life-Shaping events:

In 2004, due to political unrest and its aftereffects, I ended up going from being assistant director over one country to full director over two countries. The day before I was elected, we had some sort of group mixer in which we pasted bits of cardboard to a map to represent the different parts of our work. For some reason, I had to carry it home for the night and bring it back the next day. As I picked my way carefully through mud puddles, I had a fear that I would drop the poster in the mud and mess it up. And then I realized that I had a much larger fear: “What if I drop the BRANCH in the mud while I am director?”

It was a difficult time to be director and as the years went by I wondered why I could not be director at a time when all was normal. We were losing staff and the financial resources that went with them. Work in both countries was threatened by instability.  We joked in meetings about making “more bricks with less straw”.

Key verse:

You keep track of my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Psalm 56:8

There were a lot of difficult things during this period, so many, in fact that I was overwhelmed by “unexpected tears” during my sabbatical (2011) when I finally took time to enumerate and grieve over them:

Senseless court cases, civil unrest, threats of terrorists, sickness and medevacs of key people, a suicide, personal and family crises among our staff. So much that might have been, that was thwarted for reasons I cannot now see. So many cases also where we were forced to rely on God instead of our own capacities

 I’d like to say that this was a time that I did rely solely on God, but much of the time I relied on my own ability to multi-task and stay on top of a multitude of things. I am someone driven by duty and the work was without end, with not enough people to do it. People often commented then (and still do) on my seemingly limitless energy and my job became one that no one else could imagine doing.

By 2009, I was nearing burnout. I was dry and thirsty and in exile spiritually.

 But God was seeking after me putting books and sermons and verses in my path. I actually memorized:

“I lie in the dust completely discouraged. Revive me by your word.” Ps 119:25

My furlough was due in mid-2010 and my boss suggested that rather than doing a normal “home assignment” in administration, I consider a Sabbatical. This was a window of hope that was opened to me, that somehow things could get better. But even as I planned things to do during my sabbatical, events combined to delay it until early 2011. Read here (in the first post on this blog) about how God began inviting me to healthy practices of reading and meditation and scripture memory in that time of “delayed gratification”.



In the summer of 2010, when I should have been returning to begin the sabbatical but could not, I went ahead and did a trip to Northern Ireland which was truly a drink of cold water to me in a very dry time.

Read: northern-ireland-and-color-green

This was also a time where I was challenged to begin thinking about Sabbath and what it really means for me, the gift that it is. (See here my “Prezi” sermon on Sabbath, which I have given three times.)

Coming back to Mali, I began getting serious about Sabbath and that is literally what carried me through to the Sabbatical time in 2011.

As that time is mostly detailed in this blog, I will not repeat it here, or this could become very recursive. I've included lots of links to specific blog-posts.

Highlights of the Sabbatical would be

• The time at the Boiler room in Kansas City.



Boiler Room Building in Kansas City 

• A month at the retreat center on Lake Thunderbird

• The Oklahoma Freewheel 500-mile bike ride across Oklahoma. 

 

In this Sabbatical time and beyond, God is teaching me the importance of

• Removing distractions
• Creating space for quietness and contemplation.
• Sabbath
• Creativity – including blogging, making candles, music.
• Reading
• Journaling
• The Liturgical year: Lent, advent. . .
• Living in community and interdependence
• Living in simplicity without a lot of stuff. Being evacuated and then having to liquidate your household in short order will do that to you.
• God’s work is Unhindered by what appear to us to be major setbacks.
• The Responsibility for Getting the work done is God’s not mine.

“Do not feel totally, personally, irrevocably responsible for everything. . . That’s my job. Love, God.”

 After the Sabbatical

God knew what he was doing in arranging the sabbatical before one of the most difficult times in my life: the coup d’état in Mali and our evacuation [March-April 2012]. (Read “In the Pressure cooker” parts 1, 2, 3 and 4). I really do not know if I could have survived this time without the Sabbatical preparation.

God prepared me and resourced me to lead our group in this very difficult time, using the unique gifts he had given me. He had taught me that I needed to take time for myself, for reflection and contemplation and planning and rest:

“Get up and go! Come back and wield your sword in the part of the kingdom where you can wield it best.” [see blog post]

The time during the coup is one where God sustained me and where my unique giftings came together for that time. People commented that it seemed like I was truly “in the zone.” It is

During my sabbatical, God introduced me to the idea of being a nomad, living simply and relying on God. 2012 was the year of being a nomad. When I did my taxes for the year 2012, I honestly could not say where my tax home was. In this year, I made 15 border crossings, hopping back and forth between Mali, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Thailand, France, and Cameroon. From March to December, I averaged 2.5 weeks per country and was truly “transient” in this time.

And it was during this time that the Lord led me to accept a regional role which would involve setting up in Cameroon and traveling significantly throughout Francophone Africa. This, too, was a step of faith, but God has been good.

It is interesting to see how the administrative skills as well as my crisis management experience in the past years have prepared me for this role.

“These 40 years . . . “

As I was reflecting on the five decades that make up my first 50 years, I began thinking of theme verses for each decade. The week of my birthday, I kept coming back to Deuteronomy 2:7 which was a key verse for my 3rd decade

“The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These 40 years, the Lord your God has been with you and you have lacked nothing.”

And then I heard a podcast the week of my birthday and it centered on Deuteronomy 8, which had such a similar theme that I thought it was the same passage until I looked it up.

8.2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.
15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, 

This really seems to be a perfect description of the past 10 years especially but also the entire 40 years I have been a Christian.

[To follow - 5th Decade - part 2, people, bikes, music, books, etc]

50 years – The Fourth Decade: ’93-2004

Getting My Feet Wet – Dans le Bain

This is the fourth blog post in this series and it treats my fourth decade. We pick up the story when I was 29 and headed to French Study

Places lived:

• France (July 1993 - Sept 1994)
• Cameroon: Sept – Dec 1994 – Africa Orientation Course
• Mali
• Cote d’Ivoire (part of 1995)
• US (fall of 1996 –recruitment on the Dayuma tour, home assignments: 1998, 2002)

Verse:

Deuteronomy 31:8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

This verse is actually one that I counted as a “life verse” beginning back in college. But it seemed particularly appropriate as I set out for France and Africa.

Life-Shaping events:

One of our Advanced French classes.

I am on the back row with Hannu Koskenranta just right of me.

Amy Fields is bottom Right. 

French Study – I set off for Chambéry, France after 4-years of teaching ESL, somewhat apprehensive but I remember thinking that if those 18-year old Japanese girls could come to Oklahoma to study English, then I ought to be fine in a foreign country on my own at 29.

My 30th Birthday was in France and had a Tintin theme.

In addition to being a francophile, I am also a "tintophile".

It has been 20 years since I learned French and I simply cannot imagine life now not knowing French. To say that I fell in love with the language and country is an understatement. I am a true Francophile and enjoy French music, TV, books, culture. It is more than just a “tool” that I use to communicate with people but an extension of me, a different window for viewing the world. I think if I went home to the US forever, I would find some way to continue to be involved in French.

30th birthday party with friends from church

Administration:

I went overseas to do linguistics and Bible Translation, trained with a degree in linguistics.

It was in April 1999 that I received an email telling me to “sit down before reading this”. The email then proceeded to tell me that in a few weeks time, I was going to be nominated “from the floor” to be our director.

I took this before God and felt led to allow my name to stand and accept the outcome of the election. This meant that in June 1999, I moved out of language work and into Administration as Assistant Director, eventually to become Director on April 1, 2004 (the end of this decade).

A verse that God gave to me at this time was 1 Chronicles 17:16-18:

The King David went in and sat before the LORD and prayed, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family that you have brought me this far? And now, O God, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving me a lasting dynasty! You speak as though I were someone very great, O LORD God. What more can I say about the way you have honored me? You know what I am really like.”

I could relate well to David’s surprise that God had chosen him, especially since God knew what I was really like.

I really did not know what I was doing at the beginning and learned a lot on the job and from Eddie Arthur and Phil Davison, both of whom were Director while I was Assistant Director. On furlough, I had some management training and orientation and the privilege of working under Bob Creson.

In any case, the work was one of stretching and growing and above all, asking God for wisdom.

Crises:

Rick Warren says that, "Your greatest ministry will most likely come out of your greatest hurt." In this time period I begin to deal with painful crisis events. In retrospect, I can see how initially these touched others directly, with me trying as best I could to manage the situation and create normalcy for them.

One of the evacuation groups

preparing to (not) leave Cote d'Ivoire. 

Their chartered plane was turned around mid-flight. 

In October of 2002, our folks evacuated out of Cote d’Ivoire and we hosted them. This was the beginning of my Crisis Management work. I was involved in evacuating folks out again in January of 2003 and November of 2004 as well.

Also in my early years as director, we dealt with the death of an employee from cancer and I oversaw the first and probably most intense of 8 med-evacuations I would do through the years.

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Roommates:

At last count there have been 60+ guys with whom I shared a living space for at least a month. In this decade I had 21 different roommates. 9 in French study, 3 in Cote d’Ivoire, 4 in Mali, 5 on furlough.

Roomies that stand out in this decade:

• Hannu Koskenranta: Finnish guy who was my roommate during French study.
• Ed Bussa: Short-termer in Mali for 2000-2001 who stayed with me for half of that time and has been a dear friend ever since.

Ed Bussa and Me at the Chutes de Guina

Friends: 

There were many - here are some who made the journey better. Thank you all!

• Bill and Julie Johnson, 
• Peter and Sandy Jorgensens
• Phil and Cathy Davison
• Brad and Sue Smeltzer
• Jeff and Elizabeth Jansen
• Bamako Singles group: Janet Souster, Shari Anderson, Kim Nelson, Carina Saarloos

Languages:

language survey in Malinke

In addition to learning French for 1 year in France,

I learned the basics of Bambara, Mali’s trade language.
And I did a year of language learning in another language. (see this post on language learning). 

I did linguistic survey in several dialects of Malinke in Guinea, Senegal, Mali and Cote d'Ivoire. 

Matthias Liebrecht and  traveling in a cattle car on survey.

Testing for Comprehension under a big tree

Rides:

In France I had two bikes. The first one, I assembled in the parking lot of Carrefour before riding it home. That one was stolen and I bought a used bike. This was the first time I had a bike as my only means of transport other than the bus and the first time I was riding my bike a LOT.

In Mali, I bought a bike within the first few months, just to ride around town. It was during this period that I began riding somewhat for fun but not long distances. Also during this time frame, I bought the much maligned "Snow Bike" which was made in Dubai and a bit too small for me.

Tim and Bob the Tomato (Robert Tomaticɛ)

In 1996, I bought a red Suzuki Vitara (Similar to US model Sidekick) and this served me until my 2006 furlough. I made a “Bob the Tomato” tire cover to go on the rear tire.  This car and I had several adventures, the most exciting of which was crossing the Niger river in Guinea on the back of 2 pirogues (canoes).

crossing the Niger River in Guinea with my Suzuki riding on 2 pirogues. 

Gadgets: 
Someone commented the other day that I was one of the first people they knew with a cellphone in Mali (and it was due to my job). I think I must have gotten a basic Alcatel phone. No one else had a cellphone except the pilots. 
Also in this phase, I got my first Palm Pilot and quickly grew to love having notes, contacts, Bible at my fingertips. 

Reading:

This was back before Amazon and certainly before e-books and Kindle apps, and so reading material was limited to what you could borrow from friends and missionary guesthouses. Bookstores in Africa are pretty few and far between.

• Frank Peretti
• Stephen Lawhead
• John Grisham – I had a tradition of reading a new Grisham thriller on cross-atlantic trips.
• Tom Clancy
• Clive Cussler: Dirk Pitt Novels
• Ellis Peters: Father Cadfael Mysteries (in both French and English).

French books:

One of the joys of learning another language is reading their literature in the original language. Suddenly instead of one list of classics from English, you have TWO and a whole new world of creativity to explore. 

• Les Miserables – all three “tomes”, unabridged, in French.
• Notre Dame de Paris
• Les Trois Mousquetaires. (The 3 Musketeers).
• Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince).

Tunes:

This was pre-itunes and getting CDs overseas was not easy. I ordered quite a bit from Mount Carmel, a service for missionaries.   CDs that I wore out:

• DC Talk: Jesus Freak
• Ashley Cleveland: BigTown, and Lesson of Love
• Harry Connick, Jr.: She
• Patrick Bruel: Bruel (French)
• Margaret Becker: Simple House
• Rich Mullins: the Jesus Record
• Jars of Clay: Jars of Clay

Movies:

• Lord of the Rings
• The Matrix (trilogy) - (I frequently pondered the "Why, oh why didn't I take the blue pill?" question with regards to taking on the administration roles). 
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Amelie (wonderful french film)
• Knight’s Tale
• Dodgeball
• Zoolander

TV:

• Star Trek:TNG, Star Trek: DS9 – videos people sent overseas
• X-files (also on videos)
• Simpsons
• Friends