Monday, April 13, 2015

Light in the Dark

God first placed a desire for missions in my heart in 9th grade.  Our church youth group was headed up to Belcourt, ND to a Native American Indian reservation about a ½ hour from the U.S. and Canada border.  Now when I say that God placed a “desire for missions on my heart,” I say that rather loosely.  What I really mean is that God was working through my desire to go on a 10 day trip with a lot of my best friends and a lot of cute boys.

Up until then I had been a fairly sheltered kid, as most of us are.  Sure my dad had driven me through his old stomping grounds in North Minneapolis where we would see people of all sorts, engaged in all sorts of activities, where my dad would never actually come to a complete stop at stop signs simply because he’s a smart guy.  But our trip to Belcourt would open my eyes to the vastness of the word “poverty.”  Poverty, by Webster, is defined as 1. Lack of money or possessions, or 2. Poor quality.  All of the above and more were true in Belcourt, North Dakota.

Belcourt… even though here, within the U.S. borders, still its own nation with many troubles.
Belcourt… where most kids get to eat only once per day; meals that are provided at the school, year round.
Belcourt… most are deprived of the Gospel message because their religious history with the spirit world runs very, very deep.
Belcourt… a very solemn place, pretty void of any happiness, peace, joy or contentment. 
Belcourt… a place where the children either craved the attention that we would pour out onto them or be afraid of us.  They craved attention because none was ever given, but some were very afraid of us because the only interaction that they got with anyone who was older was abusive. 

Our main goal for the week was to exhibit and show love to these kids and tell them about the saving power of a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of the only God. 

We would run a 5 day Vacation Bible School for any child who wanted to come to VBS.  We had kids as little as 2 and as old as 18.  On the Sunday before we started, we would go to the housing projects to recruit and advertise.  What I saw was this: (and remember we were in North Dakota… Minnesota’s NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR!)
-Houses provided by their government, but very run down
-Alcohol bottles ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE. Yet alcohol is illegal on the reservation
-Naked or barely clothed children running unattended
-Oral hygiene that would shock you
-Stench and stink that I didn’t know existed
-Numerous children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome because their mothers drank to great excess while they were pregnant

Why do I give you these pictures and descriptions?  Because it was real and it was right next to us here in Minnesota.  We drove, in a coach bus, to this town in one day.  We walked the streets littered with beer cans, liquor bottles and other drug garbage.  We scooped up kids in our arms, and  would wonder when the last time they bathed was… and question if it was ever…  We would tell them about Jesus and have many respond that they weren’t allowed to listen to us when we talked about that stuff.  We would pray that our words would fall on at least a tiny piece of fertile soil in their hearts.

I would return to Belcourt two more times in my teens and early twenties and what I would see would remain mostly the same.  But the words I would hear would bring joy and hope to my heart!  “Hey!  You guys were here 3 years ago!”  “I remember when your group came before!”  “Hey, you’re the kids from Minnesota who do the Bible School, right?”  “Hey Blondie, I remember you.”  “Can I come to your camp even though I am in high school?”  “Can I bring my friend too?” 

And we would have a chance to sit with the Christian leaders of their community and hear them talk of the enormous struggle to break the chains of bondage in their heritage.  But to see that the Holy Spirit is there, even if only seemingly as a tiny spark, He is there. 

Which brings me, fast-forwarded 12 years, to a pitch, black tunnel in the underground of Lalibela, Ethiopia in 2013.  When I say pitch black, I mean PITCH BLACK.  Pitch black, people!!!!  You could not see your hand if it was a millimeter from your eyes, even if you waved it around.  It wasn’t even close to closing your eyes, because there was NO light, absolutely NONE.  Now I had read John 1:5 that says, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”  And I know the meaning and all that, but to truly and actually experience this kind of blackness was surreal.  In the tunnel it took a little while for it to get completely dark, but once it was, it was a several minute walk, through this very small, hand carved tunnel, in the PITCH BLACK, before light appeared again. 

After this experience, I thought about two things:

1. In the pitch black I never felt alone.  I was soaking in the experience of this and using it as a time to actually practice my faith.  Others might be blessed to practice theirs where and when I don’t, but God used this time with me to draw me to his heart.  I thought about Psalm 23 when it says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for you will be with me.”  This was so much darker than a shadow (however, I realize there was no death around me either) and I focused on “…I shall fear no evil, for you will be with me.”  And He was.  And He is.  And He will be. 

2. The second thing I thought a lot about afterwards and after a conversation with Guy, who had been walking in front of Wendy, who was walking right in front of me, was about darkness not overcoming light.  I had actually experienced this.  Light always infiltrates the dark.  At each end of the tunnel there was light.  When we were in the middle, in the PITCH BLACK (have I mentioned that it was completely dark in there?!) and coming close to the end, we knew we were close because even with the teeniest amount of light you could see more and more.  We didn’t get to the end and have darkness spill out on to the open ground.  The pitch black had no power of any bit of light. 

Where there is darkness in this world of any sort, whether it be poverty, slavery, addiction, idolatry, greed, deceit, or any type of evil, it cannot remain pitch black when light is introduced to it’s midst.  Light will always shine when it encounters darkness.

When I was on my way to and from Ethiopia I frequently had the question, “Why do you have me here Lord?” and one of the reasons, I realized, was to be part of that light throughout my life.  There is darkness here in Buffalo, in Minnesota, in the Midwest, in the U.S.A., and all over the world.  But when we, Christ followers, venture to step into that dark, we will shine.  Because the Holy Spirit dwells in us and will never leave us, we will shine. 

We can tend to become overwhelmed when we see the big-picture-need in the world.  But God doesn’t call us to be able to see all and know all, He’s got that covered.  We are called to be disciples of Christ who shine in dark places.

No matter what dark (or darkish) place you are in…
No matter what you are doing there (building, teaching, being, doing, etc.)…
No matter how long or short you are there…
If the Holy Spirit lives in you, then the light of Christ WILL shine where you are!

So go, go somewhere and let Christ shine His light of love through you.