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.
