Oct. 2023 Update from Abel and Sarah
Greetings to you from Tanzania.
We taught 56 sessions through the Bible to a group of Maasai pastors over the course of two weeks last month. The whole group, ourselves included, were very excited with the teaching, and all that the Lord was teaching us through our time together. (I also did a lot of translating from English to Swahili as you can see in the above picture.) We were blessed to have a teacher from Mozambique teaching the first week, and the simplicity of his teaching was striking. God created everything perfectly... God expects man to be satisfied with what He has provided... God loves and provides… these were some of the easy truths that were talked over as the teacher worked through scripture slowly, and causing all of us to think deeply about the different examples we already knew about from scripture.
Some of the things that I was working through personally:
God created everything perfectly… but what about the evil/good tree?
The tree was of the knowledge of good and evil. It wasn’t an evil tree… just a tree. Everything was good, and God told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Up until that point, Adam had only known good, because there was just good around him. When he chose to eat the fruit, he KNEW something different. At that point he felt the guilt/shame of breaking trust with God… in other words, he knew evil and its consequences.
Why did God tell Adam not to eat from the tree, giving Adam the opportunity to even know evil?
If all that Adam ever knew was good, and he never had the opportunity to choose to obey God, then the dedication/obedience/choice to relate in a good way would never be an option. It would be compulsory, and as such, unloving and absolutely demanding. God doesn’t act like that. He always gives free choice. Without the freedom to choose option ‘b’, option ‘a’, not matter how perfect, is not loving, it’s bondage.
Contentment with the Lords’ provision.
Adam and Eve felt like there was something that they deserved that was being held back. God had provided everything that they needed, including the best thing: Communion with Him. Adam and Eve, like Lucifer before them, chose to take something that they were not supposed to, even after given all that they needed.
We still struggle with the same thing. We are not content with what the Lord has provided for us. Our minds quickly go to- ‘If only I had____, then I would be happy’, or ‘Bob has __a__, what did Bob ever do to deserve that? I did __b___ better than Bob, I should have __a__.’ We do this instead of thanking the Lord for His provision. God is so patient with us, even when we are not content with what He has provided.
Last month, Thomas and I were working through the lessons for 1 Thessalonians, and we got to chapter 4 where there is the discussion of the rapture. To assure our accuracy, we went through Revelation studying and figuring out the order of events leading up to eternity into the future. I was struck with how patient the Lord is when looking at all of history. He provided perfectly in the garden. He provided a way for us to be in communion with Him all the way through history, clearly laying out simple instructions. A sacrifice to show trust in reconciliation, a visual symbol to show the trust given to the Lord. He Himself coming to show how to perfectly live a life as a man. (see footnote**) The books of the Bible lay out clearly God’s expectation for us, with God using Paul and his work to guide us through what a life reconciled to God looks like, and what we can expect. God continues patiently to communicate to people so that they can know who they are, why they were created, and what the future holds. Reading into Revelation, we see that God is so patient, and gives mankind every chance to enjoy the relationship with Him. The Rapture happens. Will people listen at that time? All of the believers are taken up to be with the Lord. What do people on earth that are left behind do? Some begin looking for God.
God tells clearly in Scripture what will happen next during the Tribulation. Will people pay attention to what God said while they are living through those trials? After the Tribulation (7 years- 3 1/2 of trying to get people’s attention through major events), Jesus Himself will come back and rule peacefully over the earth. People will have all of recorded history and scripture, and SEE Jesus reigning peacefully for one thousand years, but we read in scripture that even though He is there, and there is peace everywhere, people STILL will not pay attention to this peaceful ruler. Do you see what I mean about God being patient? He was patient with the Israelites, He was patient with us during the Church age (now), and He will continue to be patient through the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the Thousand Years of Peace. All through time, since Adam and Eve were created up to the time (Revelation 20) where the books are opened and the people who followed Him culminating with fire coming down from heaven and devouring more people than the number of sands on the seashore who chose not to follow this peaceful ruler and instead will gather to fight against the “Camp of the Saints and the beloved city”. God is so patient. God clearly communicated for thousands of years, and let people make their own choices. His love is so clearly expressed in His patience.
These are some things that I learned during the last teaching session with the Maasai, as well as the preparations for future lessons. If you have any thoughts, please feel free to write and let me know what you’re thinking.
We also have 7 other classes going on right now in different areas of the country, but the Maasai group seems to be the one that is the most invested in the teaching.
**I think especially of the testing in the wilderness and how it stands in contrast to Adam. Adam, having everything, chooses to add to himself something that he didn’t have permission for, putting himself in a place he wasn’t meant to be, trying to know more. As a result, his relationship with God was broken, and he was put outside of the garden. Jesus, at that point in the wilderness not having eaten for 40 days, having nothing, but retaining the ability and the right to fill His needs, He chose to trust instead His father and the timing set up before, and didn’t make bread to eat, or take claim over all that He saw, or throw Himself down to be guarded by angels. As a result of His faithfulness, His humility not forcing Himself into the place where He had all rights to be, His trust through His whole life (Even His death on the cross where His perfect love for the people who were mocking Him caused Him to stay on the cross and make sure that the death He died for them was perfect), He was glorified to the highest place.
-abel
Family and other News
Pacey is now in middle school and doing well with all the changes. She plays soccer and plays the goalie position. She would rather not play that position, but no one can play goalie like she does, so she's "stuck" there. :) Every week in P.E. they have to run a mile that's timed. She is naturally gifted in running like her brother and does well. Andrew set the best middle school mile time when he was in middle school, so to help motivate Pacey even more, Abel has told her that we'd give her fifty bucks if she beats his time. :) She has three years to do it. We're rooting for her!
Andrew is doing well. He has a lot of homework but is doing well with trying to stay on top of everything. He, along with seven other high schoolers, was selected to go to Denmark this December for a week long foreign exchange student type program. We are very proud of him because only a handful of kids were selected based on good character and work ethic. He is also involved in mentoring eighth grade boys once a week. Please pray for good quality conversations and wisdom for Andrew and soft hearts for the boys he is mentoring. He is also enjoying different running events held around the city, participating with friends and teachers from school.
Heidi is doing well. She is involved with a praise and worship team for middle school assemblies that are held weekly. She loves singing and is always singing at home. Between her and her siblings, the house is full of music.
The kids are enjoying the youth at our church. As a youth group they recently went on a hike, talking about being on the journey with Christ and the joys and challenges that it brings.
Last month, as a lifegroup (we meet at our place every other tuesday) we did a community service project together. We contributed towards buying some school items for grade 9 students in a local school right next to our house. We went and visited them, told them why we were there, prayed with them, passed out their gifts, and then had a great time playing soccer and basketball, dancing, and just hanging out. All parties felt blessed by this time together.
God has brought us a lot of opportunities these last couple of years to help foreigners get settled into the country (most of them being missionaries from other organizations), helping them make their transition easier by showing them where to buy groceries, furniture, good local places to eat, getting them connected into the community, having them over for a meal or two, showing them a great place to learn swahili :), and just being available to answer any questions they may have or available to do whatever they need. Abel and I enjoy this and are grateful we can be used in this way.
Thank you for your love and your support.