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Kpaga and Gunati are from families which practice traditional African religions. Since they came to college, they have been listening seriously to their Christian and Muslim friends speaking about their religious beliefs. Kpaga and Gunati are sincere young men who want to know the truth about God. The more they talk with their friends, the more questions they have.
Kpaga: “The Christians say that Christ is the only way by which men can find God.”
Gunati: “I wonder why they say that? We all know there is a God and we all believe in him. In fact, we all have a name for God in our own languages. If a man is sincere, he should be able to find God in his own way.”
Kpaga: “The Christians also say that people can only find forgiveness of sin through Christ.”
Gunati: “Why is God’s forgiveness so important? I am more concerned about what the elders of my people say is right to do. If I do not follow our traditions, I will be considered a rebel and will be punished by them. I think God has put the responsibility for our behavior in to the hands of our elders. I am also concerned about the witchcraft in my village. Recently my uncle died because he was eaten by witches. The medicine man in our village told me this.”
Kpaga: “I am confused by what my Christian friends tell me. They say that God loves us but they also say that God will punish sinners in hell. Why would a God who loves people send anyone to hell?”
Gunati: “That is a good question. If God loves people as they say, why will he not forgive everyone? My Muslim friends say that God will forgive those who ask him for mercy on the day of judgment.”
Kpaga: “What I don’t understand is, what does the death of Christ have to do with us today?” How can the death of one man such a long time ago be of any value to us now?”
If you are like me, you are quickly reviewing in your head all the statements made by these two African gentleman. I started listing them off as I read:
1. The importance of following what God wants in your life and understanding that the responsibility does fall on yourself.
2. To actually believe that your uncle was eaten by witches!
3. To try and not only defend your Christian faith, but have to deal with the Muslim guy down the street who is also witnessing to these people.
4….
We could go on and on, taking this apart in pieces and “proving” each one for God’s side of the case. But stop for a second and imagine you are in the sticks of Africa. Whether you are visiting someone’s home or chopping down trees in a field, if one of the Tonga people asked you even one of these questions, what would you do? How would you respond? Are you prepared?
For most that know me, you know that every Wednesday night I go to the local jail and teach a bible study for some of ladies that are currently incarcerated. About 3 months ago, a woman who had previously been in my program, completed her sentence and was released from jail – violated her parole and was now back. For purposes of this devotion, we will call her Sue. When I walked in that Wednesday evening, I was surprised to see her. Although I had not seen her since she had left several months earlier, Sue had made incredible progress for changing her life and following Jesus during the times we spent together.
Not knowing how much time she was going to be there, I rushed to the Chaplain’s office and asked for permission to have personal visitation with her. One on one, upfront and in person. Time only allowed us to meet twice before she was released again, but those 2 meetings were just what Sue and I needed. Without delving into her personal reasons for returning, I quickly found out that Sue wasn’t so sure about this God thing anymore. She still believed He existed, but wasn’t too keen on following what He wanted.
Then the bomb dropped. I felt like I was sitting in the room with our African friends Kpaga and Gunati. She asked me questions about God and His Word that I had no idea how to answer. As she continued to speak, she rattled off reasons why she was doubting, why she fearful and why she was more comfortable just doing things on her own instead of having to follow all the “rules.” She said she thought the bible was fake. Who knew if the stories were true or not? And one story seemed to just contradict another, so why believe it? Most importantly, she was angry. At the end of the day, the worst had happened. She was back in jail. I was speechless.
As Sue listed off one by one, the things that she disagreed with about her previous Christian faith – I prayed. I knew that I could do not do this on my own. Regardless of how much I had studied the Word, I had no idea of how to respond. There would be no way I could defend each one of these arguments in a way that this woman would understand. No bible verse was going to bring her comfort; after all, she was rejecting God! I needed to find a way to bring her back …and leave the word “God” out of it.
At that moment, in a cold, white cinderblock bound room with a plain grey table and metal chairs, the Holy Spirit made His presence known. I started talking about myself and my stories, all stemming from doubt and fear. And even though we had 2 completely different lifestyles, she started to see the resemblance between us. I was a woman. I had troubles. I had concerns. Besides the exterior of our clothes and where we were living – we weren’t very different. The wall she built around her started to fall, which allowed me to start answering some of her other questions. I even tackled the “fake bible” comment with no hesitation.
In the end, the Holy Spirit revealed that I just needed to spend time with someone who was so incredibly lost, she was finding it very difficult to make her way back on her own. And the best part – although I was there to help bring her back – it had absolutely nothing to do with me. The Holy Spirit was guiding me down the correct path and saying the correct things to bring Sue back to Him. He used me as a vessel to bring His lost sheep home. Thank you Jesus! I have been so incredibly blessed by You that I am literally thankful for being speechless.
We are going to experience times in Zambia in which we will not have all the answers. But Jesus uses this amazing and powerful Tool that dwells within to give us the words necessary to relate to anyone! Even a Tonga tribal native on the other side of the world! In today’s prayer, we will ask Him this specifically, atukombe:
Father, what an amazing journey you have each of us on – to travel to the other side of the world and talk to people who externally can be quite different, but internally are very similar. They have the same questions, the same concerns, the same hopes and the same fears. Jesus, You tell us through John 16:13, ”But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”
We pray that we do not take it upon our own human nature to simply answer questions. Help us speak to them Lord. Guide our words, our actions and our thoughts so that You will be revealed to each of them. What a privilege it is to have this amazing gift You have given us that dwells within as our compass in life. Thank you Jesus, thank Jesus, thank you Jesus.
Story used in this devotional was written from:
O'Donovan, Wilbur. "Chapter 7, Jesus Christ - The Source of Our Salvation." Biblical Christianity in African Perspective. 2Rev ed. Carlisle: Paternoster P, 1996. 98.
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