“The seas have lifted up, LORD, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.” Psalm 93:3

Do you ever think of the seas as having a voice? But they do…and it is a powerful one that often speaks to people in crisis. Has it spoken to you?

I recently reread Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, which documents his groundbreaking faith that opened the doors of inland China to the Gospel. There are many aspects of this book that are worth commenting on, but I was struck again by one event in Hudson’s life that occurred at an especially low point for him. The burden of the millions of lost souls in China weighed heavily on his heart, but he was also afflicted with fear of leading others into a painful life of possible failure. Feeling stressed and low, he was invited by a friend to spend time at the ocean and it was as he walked on the beach at Brighton that he experienced a life change:

In great spiritual agony, I wandered out on the sands alone. And there the Lord conquered my unbelief, and I surrendered myself to God for this service. I told Him that all the responsibility as to the issues and consequences must rest with Him; that as His servant it was mine to obey and to follow Him, His to direct, care for and guide me and those who might labour with me. Need I say that at once peace flowed into my burdened heart? (pg 114)

Reading Hudson Taylor’s experience reminded me of a similar incident in the life of Greg Livingstone, the founder of the Frontiers mission organization, which he described in his autobiography You’ve Got Libya: A Life Serving in the Muslim World. Greg was uncertain about what was next, and unable to fit his vision of reaching Muslims into the other organizations he had worked with. He writes:

During this time of searching, I set aside three weeks for prayer. On a walk with my Savior along a beach in Ventura, California, I finally sensed the Lord say, “Okay, it’s time.” At that moment on 28 May 1983, Frontiers was born.

In my life also God used an experience at the ocean during a time of crisis. A deeply hurtful experience caused me to question God’s purposes in my life and I wanted time to think through what was required of me. Staying in Bandon, Oregon, I sat on the porch on a hill overlooking the ocean in the afternoon and watched the fog roll in and stop, as if restrained by a hand. This happened every afternoon that week and as I contemplated the ocean and my situation, God spoke this scripture from Job to my heart:

“Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

What comfort in knowing that the waves—no matter how mighty—can go no further than God allows. I am sure there are as many reasons why God speaks through the oceans as there are listening hearts, but surely the shear size and power of those waves being constrained is a picture meant to strengthen our faith in the God that restrains them.

The post Does the Ocean Speak? appeared first on Make The Vision Plain.

Her life was poured out in love in a very resistant culture. She found a way to befriend women by ministering to children with all types of classes. But over the course of her life, she saw again and again new followers of Christ falling away because of family pressure, sickness and opposition.

Near the end of her life as she looked back over years of struggle with only small evidence of results, Lilias wrote these words, which have profound implication for all who desire to see the gospel flourish in unreached peoples.

The old Exodus story has come with a fresh glow today, in setting forth the steps of emancipation for slaves under the yoke of Islam. It seems to fall into three sections:

1. The breaking of the oppressor’s power

2. The passing under the blood

3. The passage of the Red Sea

It is in the first breaking down of Pharoah’s authority that I believe we have failed. “First bind the strong man” has been an ignored counsel. We have gone straight to the task of  “spoiling his house” and it is but little spoil that we have carried away, with the “strong man” of the powers of darkness resisting every step and pursuing the fugitive. It is with these powers that we need to deal, stretching out the rod of faith higher and higher from the dust of the earth to the very throne of God. At this point, judgement crashed down and shattered the last resistance.

The book concludes with a story Lilias wrote and a prophetic encouragement by the author. These are powerful sustaining words for those who labor in difficult places and may wonder if anything they do really matters:

In a small booklet called Vibrations, Miss Trotter told of a day when the wall of her house had suddenly without warning, fallen inwards. She had sent for a builder to repair it but he first asked to investigate the cause. On returning from his exploratory trip outside, he explained that the kneading machine in the Baker’s shop next door had been vibrating against her wall every night for twenty years, gradually weakening the structure. Every stroke of the seesaw-like machine had done its work, but only the last had brought about the destruction.

She believed with all her heart in that vibration of prayer that would gradually but insistently weaken the solid front of Islam. For forty years she did her part and died content, and we who follow have sought to carry on that quiet rhythm. Already there are those cracks in the wall of which we may not speak, but she knew and we know that not one vibration is lost. Every one does its work and we cannot tell how soon or how late the great barrier will crumble. May God grant us the patience to live in faith and hope and, if necessary, to die not disappointed, because: The vision is yet for an appointed time. It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.

Here is one of her illustrations combined with a quote from Vibrations. 

These quotes are from Until the Day Breaks: The life and work of Lilias Trotter, Pioneer missionary to Muslim North Africa by Patricia St John (page 194 and 221). Unfortunately, this book is out of print. You can learn more about the life and ministry of Lilias from a more recent biography: A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter by Miriam Rockness.

The post Wise words on Prayer appeared first on Make The Vision Plain.

Her life has captured others imaginations as well, as this article describes. A feature film about her life called Many Beautiful Things is being released on DVD in March. I decided to reread the book in preparation for watching the movie, and my heart has been recaptured by the poignancy of her humble life in such a hostile environment. Lilias captures some of this in a journal entry she wrote in January while returning to Algeria after months spent in England recuperating from physical exhaustion.

One gets more of the breath of spring through the little, half-asleep January buds than through all the wealth of beauty down south. It is something like that with feebly breaking life in those hearts out there in the darkness–there is a joy over it deeper even than in the summer-tide of the spiritual atmosphere in England. Is it not so that the Lord looks down on the earth, it may be, along side the radiant beauty of His kingdom already set up in other worlds? He sees the slowly spreading buds of His dawning springtime here and is glad.

Last weekend I met with a small group to hear and pray over a report of what God is doing in the countries of Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia. Here I learned of January buds that are indeed beginning to swell. Lillias mentions the Kabyle people in her journals, and I discovered that God is doing a mighty work among this people group.

The Kabyles live in the rugged mountains called Kabylia to the east of the Algerian capital, Algiers. They belong to the Berber people group, the original inhabitants of North Africa before the Arab invasion of the region around 1,350 years ago. Originally Christians, they did become Muslim, but their life in the mountains allowed them to maintain much of their culture and language and unique dress. Now it is estimated that over 90 percent of churches in Algeria lie within the mountain of Kabylia.

I heard how the Kabyle believers have a heart to reach not only their own people, but  Berber groups in other nations. And I think of how happy Lillias would be to know that some of the seeds she sowed in the desert are now sprouting up and bringing life. Would she be surprise? I don’t think so.

“He that goes forth and weeps, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126:6

The post The buds begin to bloom appeared first on Make The Vision Plain.

“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” Prov 30:5

But in practice, do we really believe every word is important? How many of us skim over the listings of genealogies in books like Numbers or even in Matthew and Luke where the family details of Mary and Joseph are traced back through King David to Adam?

And the Word Came with Power by Joanne Shetler is a classic missionary story about two young women with Wycliffe Bible Translators who went to live with the Balangaos, a remote tribe in the Philippines. The book includes many of the elements you might expect in a classic missionary story: culture shock, bugs, sickness, exotic food, death, and spiritual warfare.

The man the Lord used to bring breakthrough in this people group was called Ama (uncle). He stood in place of a father for the two young women, a requirement in their village culture for single girls, and became their protector and language helper. But no matter how much time he spent with Joanne, Ama didn’t really understand the importance of the Bible message and didn’t believe. Joanne prayed and agonized over his salvation and God sent an answer in a very unexpected way.

This is the story in her words:

One day Ama picked up the English New Testament from my desk. He opened it to the first page, Matthew 1, which is a list of names. He stood frozen, staring at it. Incredulous, he asked me,”You mean this has a genealogy in it?”

I said, “Yeah, but just skip over that so you can get to the good part.”

“You mean this is true?” he asked. Eyes riveted to the page he struggled through the list of names.

Something is going on here! I got out some shelf paper and made a genealogy from Adam to Jesus, from the ceiling clear down to the floor. Ama took it all over the village.

He carefully explained, “We always thought it was the rock and the banana plant that gave birth to people. But we didn’t have their names written down. Look, here are all the names…written down!”

Although the creation story of the Balangaos accounted for man’s frailty it didn’t have their ancestor’s names recorded, so its value paled in comparison to the Bible. Balangaos loved that genealogy from the gospel of Matthew. It proved the Bible was true: for the first time they had the actual names from the beginning of the world written down.

So next time you are struggling through the book of Numbers, remember the Balangaos and give thanks for the unexpected ways God has prepared for reaching the hearts of many different peoples through His story.

Contact me if you would like to borrow this book. I have two copies!

The post Getting to the good part appeared first on Make The Vision Plain.

As this sign indicates, Liberians are hopeful that the end of ethnic and class strife will bring peace. We know, however, that without the transforming power of the Gospel, there is no peace. I encourage you to explore these resources and to pray for Liberia and for those God is sending there.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Eph 2:14–18

Resources on Liberia

First I read The House on Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper, which describes the her life growing up in Liberia as a member of the privileged “Congo” class of descendants from slaves who returned to Africa from America. She helped me understand the tragedy of a culture that perpetuated the sins that were perpetuated on them…Africans treating indigenous Africans like the Southern slave holders treated them.

Then I saw the movie Pray the Devil Pack to Hell at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, which documented how a determined women’s movement in Liberia helped bring an end to the bloody civil war. In September 2011, I was privileged to hear Leyman Gbowee, one of the activists featured in the film, at UCSB, just a few weeks before she became a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

A few months ago, Amazon had a special on the kindle version of the autobiography of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the president of Liberia: This Child will be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman President. How could I go wrong for $1.99? I ended up getting the Audible version for a few more dollars and listened to the book over a period of about four weeks.

During the same time, I learned that dear friends in Ventura would be moving to Liberia in the fall. Dr. John Fankhauser will  be a part of a team starting the first family medicine training program in Liberia, a further sign of rebirth and hope for this war ravaged land. The entire family will be serving in various capacities. You can read about their ministry on their blog Lift up Liberia.

Beth Fankhauser told me about meeting Melodie, who grew up in Liberia and will be moving to Kenya with her family.  Melodie blogs at Africa’s Melodie. Melodie’s mom Nancy Shepherd has written a book about the journey the Lord took her through during years of ministry first in Liberia and then during the civil war to Liberian refugees in the Ivory Coast. Confessions of a Transformed Heart is a great resource for anyone thinking of the missions field because it addresses in a personal way the need to relinquish our own ideas of ministry and learn to submit to the way of the Cross.

The latest Liberia discovery is a new project to create a children’s book about a child caught up in the civil war: The True Story of Chu-Chu: A Boy from Monrovia Liberia.  It is written by Bola Jones and will be illustrated by my friend, the very talented Neal Parrow, who has illustrated several other children’s books such as Mika: An Orphan’s Story of Faith, Hope, and Love. This book on Chu-Chu is being financed through Kickstarter and you can read about it here. I encourage you to support this effort.

The post Thoughts on Liberia appeared first on Make The Vision Plain.