A New Song

This was a busy weekend!  Saturday was our monthly leadership meeting.  15 leaders, representing 7 different rural congregations, gathered to pray, sing, hear the Word of God, discuss the advancement of the Kingdom and share a meal together.  It was so exhausting simply because after 5 hours of listening to these men talk on a variety of subjects, my ears were tired!  I tell them that after 4 hours, my “Aja ears” shut down.  Language is still a challenge even after all these years.

Last year was a year of disappointments and discouragements for many people.  By the end of the year, I was hearing more about the discouragement in the church than I was about the good that was happening.  Back in December, the leaders talked a lot about it and prayed that 2006 would be different.  I believe it’s starting out a whole lot better!  Some of the testimonies that came from the mouths of these leaders yesterday made my heart rejoice…I’ll translate and summarize a few for you:

1 – “We went to evangelize in a village known for their voodoo power.  When we arrived we were asked to pray for a sick child.  It was a test to trick us.  If the child didn’t get better immediately, they would mock our God.  We prayed and prayed.  While we were praying, someone in house tried to harm us but we were not turned away.  We prayed and went home rejoicing.  We believe the child will get better in God’s time.  But we really praise God that Satan was not victorious in his scheme to trick us and hurt us.  Today we all woke up well and that proves that what they did to us had no power over Christ’s power!”

2 – “Last month, when the leaders all fasted and prayed together, I prayed God will help me get a new bike so I could do more of God’s work in other villages.  Also I prayed that I would get a new job.  Since then, I received some money to pay for a new bike and I got the teaching job I applied for back in August!  Praise God!”

3 – “I had a dream one night a few weeks ago.  In that dream, I was told to move from my home because someone wanted to harm my family.  Our family has been under a lot of persecution in the past year.  People have tried to poison our food.  They have stolen from us.  They have tried to discourage us.  All because we have turned our hearts to Christ.  I didn’t know what to do about the dream because I did not have the money to rent a room anywhere.  But just two weeks later, a friend of mine from the capital city came to see me.  He said, ‘the only reason I’m coming to see you is that I had a dream last night.  In that dream, I saw you in a new place because in your old place, someone was trying to harm you.’  I knew then I should look for a new place.  God provided the money and now my family is living in peace for the first time in several years.”

4 – “Before I became a Christian, I was healthy all the time.  Then I became a Christian and since then I have been diagnosed with leprosy.  The pagans in my village said it was because I abandoned the gods they follow.  The pagans assured me that I would die, or at least my wife would leave me because we would not be able to have kids.  Praise God that today, years later, I’m still alive, and not only has my wife not left me, but she has started a small business of her own to help our family since I can’t work in my field any longer (I also get a lot of help from the other Christians in the church).  Plus we have 2 happy kids, too.  Praise God!”  

In efforts to make the leadership training more intentional, each leader was given a practical assignment to do (some had to do with evangelism, others about praying and visiting the sick, and others about teaching the Word).  Ega (Lael’s birth father) is the group’s “leader among leaders” (chosen by the group) …he was the one that issued each assignment and I’m excited to see their respect for him and their eagerness to complete their tasks.  My role is to follow up with each leader and encourage them in their work (and to “investigate” those who aren’t doing their job!)

The last Sunday of each month is our convention of all the churches in this cluster.  It was a good turnout from all the churches.  We all had a big laugh when the first lesson was announced…the topic “Wives Submit to Your Husbands”…the laugh came when someone in the crowd chided the presenter, “Where’s your wife today, why didn’t she come?”  She was conveniently out of town this Sunday.  Wonder if that was planned! :)
But the big highlight for me was what happened during my lesson.  Any of you who have ever preached, taught or given lessons to a large group, there are often times when you wonder, “Is anyone even listening?”  While I had a pretty attentive group, I had no idea what God was doing!  My lesson was on clinging to God in times of trial and discouragement.  One of my primary texts was from Psalm 50.15:

“Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

At the end of my lesson, the man leading the service called me aside.  He said, “There’s someone who has a song to sing that goes well with your lesson.  Is that OK if we sing it?”  I resoundingly said, “Of course”!  Then I saw her walk to the front.  Josephine.  This is the former wife of Joseph who was once a strong leader in our church.  Last year, he lied and deceived the church and took a 2nd wife.  Then later in the year, he divorced from Josephine.  It was one of the true heartbreaks of 2005 for us.  Josephine has of course carried lots of shame from the cruel actions of her husband, and has been irregular in church attendance since.  What a joy it was to see that it was her who had the song to sing.  Josephine is also a gifted psalmist…a song writer who has contributed countless songs to the Aja church over the years.  But the well has been dry and I haven’t heard a song from her in years (apparently their marriage was in shambles for several years and we didn’t know it).  She stepped to the front and with a huge smile announced that while I was sharing my lesson, during the reading of Psalm 50.15, God had put a tune in her heart to those words.  She taught the entire assembly this wonderfully simply song talking about her God’s power to deliver us when we call on His Name.  You could see the excitement on everyone’s faces…and the Aja Christians can turn even a short simple song into a rowdy celebration…the drums got louder, the clapping got more intense, and the dancing was much more spirited!  There are numerous references in the Psalms to God giving the people a “new song” (Rev 5.9 is one of my favorites).  As a matter of fact, during the leaders’ meeting on Saturday, someone had even prayed that we’d hear new songs this year (there’s always people tired of the old stuff!)  I love thinking about God’s Spirit working mightily in a small band of believers, giving them new songs to sing.  My study Bible notes that most of the time, new songs were the people’s way of accounting for new acts of divine deliverance or blessing!  May today’s new song be one of many ways that God reveals His love and power to these people!!
-Randy