January Update

Humble Lord of the Universe

This morning I was reading in Luke’s Gospel—rereading for the 100^th time, is more accurate--the triumphal entry story, and I was startled to see it in a new light. Who knew that having donkeys as everyday life companions could alter your understanding of scripture?

I had pretty much understood that Jesus choosing to ride a donkey into Jerusalem was a sign of humility. Certainly, Matthew’s account of the story makes this explicit by quoting Zechariah’s prophecy, which talks about the King coming humbly, riding on a donkey.

Here in West Africa, the donkey is the preferred beast of burden. There is nothing fancy about riding a donkey cart around. It’s commonplace, and trust me, anything but glorious. I’m sure in Jesus’ day, it was much the same. No Caesar would have been caught dead riding a donkey. A horse, yes; a camel or an elephant maybe, but not a donkey.

Jesus, however, did not need those external trappings to proclaim His Kingship. Surround by a group of peasants and villagers, riding on a donkey, He descends into Jerusalem, not to be crowned as King in the normal way, but to suffer death. Humble. Sure. Determined.

This is precisely where we see a most incredible irony. Jesus wasn’t to be crowned as King of Jerusalem or Israel with all the earthly celebrations befitting of such an occasion, but He was about to be crowned Lord of the whole world, in the most unthinkable and surprising of ways.

And only ONE character in the story gets that.

Donkeys are not intelligent. Excuse the language, but there are good reasons we use the term “dumb ass” as an insult and “smart ass” as a derision of someone who thinks he is being clever. The lack of intelligence is compounded by a difficult temperament. West Africans use donkey-pulled carts to do just about everything, with the careful exception of anything that needs a little honor. So, for example, they’ll never allow a donkey cart to carry a coffin. Donkeys, they say, are without pity, even for the dead, and would likely do something stupid, causing the casket to tip and provoking grave dishonor for the family of the deceased.

Jesus chooses not only a donkey, but the colt of a donkey that has never been ridden. An UNBROKEN donkey. Surrounded by people yelling and cheering. I promise, this is a recipe for disaster. And yet, there is no record of donkey shenanigans on that day. Apparently that unbroken colt knew he was in the presence of greatness.

The religious leaders ask Jesus to rebuke His followers for the way they are praising Him. He responds that the rocks will cry out if His admirers go silent.

The rocks never got their chance that day, but the dumb ass performs marvelously, accepting the weight of the Lord of the Universe, perhaps knowing the fate that awaited Him in Jerusalem. Maybe donkeys are capable of pity after all.

How about us? Perhaps we are hoping for the Presence of Christ to invade our lives with the grandeur of an elephant riding king, and yet all we find is this humble man, surrounded by commonness, making Himself entirely available to us. Our Savoir is humble; He never parades Himself into our lives, our situations, our time, or our problems with an air of importance. Yet, when we invite Him in, we are receiving the very Lord of the Universe, whose power even the rocks recognize, whose importance even a donkey respects.

Update in Pictures

At the hospital, I continue to be active in wound care, helping to guide the care for some of our most difficult chronic cases. Doing the actual hands-on care of a nurse was something I had really missed, and I’m happy to have an outlet for that again.

I also continue to serve as the main liaison between our team (including our donors) and the hospital administration. We recently finished a solar project funded by USAID that will make the hospital almost completely energy independent. While the real work of this project was done by our Dutch colleague, I’ve be very involved in the financial aspects of the project. It was fun to see the completion.

Christmas and New Year’s proved to be very busy, but fun times. I had a house full of friends Christmas eve night, and then after church service we had almost 25 people over to eat lunch. Most of these are friends that are new believers and so don’t have a family to celebrate with.

On New Year’s Eve, I took a group of friends a few hours south of our city to a waterfall. We had a blast hiking around and talking. At one point, we were scrambling down a hill to get to the top of the falls, and I jumped down onto a rock slab a couple feet below me, only to realize that I had landed next to an 8-foot-long python. I didn’t know this was possible, but happily, he was more afraid of me than I was of him, and he took off down the hill without giving me a second look. When we regained composure, we finished off the hike to the top of the falls and had a great conversation about what God was calling us to in 2017.

We continue to work closely with our national church partners in reaching new villages. We’ve been especially focused on helping Pastor Daniel (Top) get settled into the village of Kougnou. The small group of believers they have there meets under a shade constructed with sticks and millet stalks (middle). Daniel and his family were living in a room that another family was allowing them to borrow, and the situation was far from ideal. So, this week, the district sent a team of men to build the walls of a new house (above), which will also include a large porch area for church meetings. They are building the house by day and doing Gospel presentations in the evening. 

Prayer Requests:

1. Praise the Lord for the forward progress (such as the solar project, the training of nursing leadership) being made at the hospital. Continue to uphold our doctors and nurses in prayer, as they often receive challenging cases.

2. Continue to pray for a young friend Djakari, who continues to struggle with spiritual warfare. He has been gaining some victory lately, but the battle is still intense.

3. Praise the Lord for a good start to the outreach season. My colleague, Toby, and I have had some really encouraging visits in key villages all over our target area during these past couple weeks. There is much to be done in order to see the Kingdom come fully in these areas. Pray that the Holy Spirit would go before us and lead us to where He is working.

4. The busyness of this season always leaves me feeling pulled in multiple directions. Pray that I would manage my time well and would have the strength to do my job well.

5. Praise the Lord that all our new teammates are now here. Pray for their continued adjustment and language study. Pray that as a team we can continue to grow and function well together.