A worthwhile day...

Yesterday morning, I had one of those days that completely confirmed exactly why it is that we are here. This is probably too long of a post, but I feel like sometimes, it’s okay to write a lot. Some stories just shouldn’t be shortened…

Our Wednesday morning women’s Bible study was yesterday. Unfortunately, the lady who taught the Bible story last week was sick this week and not up for learning a story ahead of time to teach. Our normal translator has been MIA for several weeks. Finally, Laura and Jamie have begun teaching their women’s English class, so Laura had English class to teach on Wednesday morning and could not be at the Bible study. Normally, if we need to speak Dinka with our Bible study ladies, I do my best but they rarely understand me. Laura tends to get a better response from the ladies when speaking Dinka, but I knew that I was going to need a translator if I was to be understood.

We were able to arrange with one of the local pastors to come and translate for me, and I prepared the Noah story to teach this week. We have been working alongside some of the training that has begun in Akot so that the ladies who are learning stories there are hearing and practicing some of the same stories here…and one of them, Mary, has begun stepping up to help lead the teaching. I was nervous about the Bible study though…I had not worked with this particular translator much, the story is a long one, and I was on my own with the ladies this week. However, as I prayed for the right words and for open hearts among the ladies, I felt like God was saying to me, “Just do what I’ve asked you to do…I’ve taken care of all the details for you.”

Only nine ladies showed up Wednesday morning for the Bible study, and initially, I was a little bit disappointed. But as I talked with them before it started, I realized that these are our “core” ladies…the faithful few who come every week…the ones who are hungry for the truth and eager to teach it to their friends and family. And as we began the lesson, it warmed my heart to hear the ladies retelling the story from last week, correcting and encouraging each other when they couldn’t remember what came next. As the Bible study got underway, I really began to enjoy the time with them.

Finally, I told the story of Noah. The ladies listened with rapt attention, and at the end, I asked them some questions about the story. They answered correctly and seemed to understand the concepts I was trying to help them understand. However, at one point, Mary raised her hand to ask a question. Now, Mary has heard this story before…several times in fact. But for some reason, this week she had a question. Mary said, “I like this story. It shows us how God always keeps His promises and punishes the sinful. But I am wondering about the sacrifices. In this story, Noah made a sacrifice to God when he came off the ark. And here in Sudan, many people make sacrifices under the trees and to the witchdoctors. We have always heard that we shouldn’t make sacrifices, but in these stories, you tell us how Abraham and Noah make sacrifices to God. Should we make sacrifices to God, too?” And in that moment, you could see the despair in Mary’s eyes. I wondered if she thought she had been sinning against God and angering Him for years by not making sacrifices to Him, or if she was thinking of the few animals that they have as it is and how hard it is to feed an entire family with those few animals.

Then something amazing happened. I was able to explain to Mary and the other ladies in great detail (because we had a translator) that God demanded sacrifices for our sins, but He knew that we could not always make sacrifices to Him. He sent Jesus to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins…that when Jesus, who was completely blameless, died on the cross, He became the final sacrifice to cover our sins so that God no longer demands the sacrifice of animals from us. God knew that we could not do it on our own, so He took care of it for us, and now we do not sacrifice animals to God anymore. And as we continued to discuss the matter of the sacrifice, I was able to see in each of the women’s eyes the moment that comprehension dawned. The lightbulb went on…for all nine women! The ladies took turns asking more questions, and as I looked around, I was blessed to see the joy that immediately filled their faces as they grappled with what this meant for them—what it meant for Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for them.

It was one of those moments of complete understanding…one of those moments that could only be orchestrated by God. These ladies have HEARD this story before. They KNOW the story. But only yesterday did God choose to reveal Himself to these nine ladies. I don’t know why He chose to do that yesterday, other than to show me that it’s nothing I can do. My level of preparation, my comfort with the situation, my opinions about what is important in the story, etc…none of them are as important as the Holy Spirit’s moving in the lives of the individual ladies.

As the Bible study continued, the ladies were an utter joy to behold. They laughed. They giggled. They talked about God’s promises and the rainbow that will now always remind them of how God keeps his promises. They talked about God’s grace—how God loves people and allowed Noah’s family to live. They talked about how God punishes the sinners—how if they are sinful God will punish them, and how He will punish the witchdoctors and the people who make sacrifices to the spirits. And as I left Bible study yesterday morning, I heard one of the ladies call my name. As I turned to see what she wanted, she said, “Remember that God always keeps His promises!” And the smile that lit up her face made every second—be it challenging, irritating, discouraging, or completely joyful—that we have spent here in Sudan completely worthwhile.