One life

The news pierced my heart catching me totally off guard.

"Kibwana just passed away!"

"What???" I immediately asked Mohamed.

"He died of malaria on Monday" came the somber answer. The unexpected news left me stunned as the call on my cell-phone ended as abruptly as it had started.

I began to reflect on my short involvement with this young man's life. Many of you will remember the story. I wrote about it last July in a blog entry entitled: "What Does Jesus Think About Muslims?" (www.burundi-sk.blogspot.com)

The seemingly random circumstances of a trailer repair caused our paths to cross. Me- brand new to Dar. Unsure of why God had brought me here. Confused about the recent events of Burundi. Kibwana- the seasoned welder. Quiet. Friendly. Eager for some work. A Muslim.

Our conversation will burn inside my heart forever. God's love. The Spirit's drawing of a man's soul. A sincere question- "What does your Jesus think about us Muslims?" A heart-felt response that changed his eternal destiny. A friendship that developed.

As I reflected, gratitude welled up in my heart. Gratitude that I knew Kibwana was in the secure arms of Christ. Gratitude that the Gospel had reached him just a few months before his untimely demise. Gratitude that I had been obedient to share. Gratitude that he had the courage to respond by faith. Gratitude that God still loves Muslims!

Then a sense of urgency swept over me. I remembered what Bohnke said once upon a time. "The Gospel is eternal, but we don't have eternity to share it." There's an urgency when it comes to souls. Life is short. Eternity is long. We are but a thread that can snap at any given moment. So many people still haven't heard.

Oswald Smith used to say: "No one has the right to hear the Gospel twice while there are still people who have not heard it once." My heart is gripped with the force of this statement.

Lastly, the words of my favorite poem flashed to mind: "ONE LIFE WILL SOON BE PAST. ONLY WHAT'S DONE FOR CHRIST THE KING WILL LAST".

May we be stirred with Urgency in this hour.

Can't You Read?

We were hungry and more than slightly impatient to get some food!

Roger had invited us to meet them for lunch at a new Chinese restaurant. As we pulled into the parking lot an irate guard jumped into the middle of the road yelling at us to turn around.

I rolled down my window aggravated by the added delay. In my politest and most composed Swahili I asked the guard "to get out of the way!" He stubbornly refused informing us that we weren't allowed to park in the parking lot next to the Chinese restaurant. The exchange went back and forth for several minutes. My car engine was still running in the drive way as the guard pointed, yelled, and demanded me to move my vehicle. I appealed to every form of logic I could think of to get permission to park in the lot next to the Chinese restaurant.

We weren't getting anywhere fast. Then an idea struck me with great force! I pointed to the big sign on the main road. "It has an arrow pointing this way with chinese characters all over it" I nearly hissed in frustration. Un-phased by my attempt at Western logic, the guard cooly replied: "can't you read?"

"READ- READ WHAT?!?!"

"Yes... read....the board" he retorted. "It says no parking in this lot!"

"What are you talking about?!" I demanded- "it's all in Chinese"

"That's not my problem- you should learn Chinese, then you would know not to come into this parking lot."

"err......" I stared off into space.

A no parking sign for a Chinese restaurant next to the restaurant itself in a country where no one speaks Chinese. Made total sense to me. I slowly got back into the car, threw it into reverse, and left.

Who knew? I need to learn Chinese to live in Tanzania. I will have to keep that in the back of my mind for language study possibilities on my next term.