Project North Africa

Thoughts from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German martyr at the hands of the Nazi’s:

“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”
“We must never make cheap what was costly to God.”

I am challenged by this man who could have stayed out of his native Germany during the time of the Third Riecht but chose to go back in to be the light. He left New York where he did his theological training and entered Germany knowing he would possible die for his stand for Christ against the Nazi Party. Why did Paul go to Jerusalem when he knew he’d die as a result? Why did Jesus go to the cross willingly? Where are the men and woman of today willing to enter the lair of the Devil, oppose darkness, and risk it all?

My favorite military series of all time, “Band of Brothers” is back. Well, at least I am watching it again. So here is today’s leadership lesson:

Lt. Winters: “Never put yourself in the position that you could steal from your men.”

Lt. Winters got a new commanding officer in his company. To get to know the men, the new officer was playing poker with them while still in England as they prepared for the invasion of Normandy. Lt Winters, a generally calm, quite leader did not hesitate to rebuke his commanding officer with the above words.

This quote is in contrast to the leadership example we saw in Captain Strobel who used his men, their success, and their hard work to lift himself up in the ranks and gain prestige. Mutiny ensued and Strobel was sent packing.

Your men can tell when you are using them or when you are sacrificing for them. I was convicted that I may be in the position to gain from the work of my brothers and take from them. May we always be givers as leaders. May our men be taller by stepping on our shoulders and in their strength may we find our greatest satisfaction.

My wife wants you to rejoice with her (as do I) over the spiritual birth of a young lady here in our city that we first began to witness to almost two years ago. Two of the summer interns had taught her and her sister in their class and had an opportunity to give them a Bible and share their testimonies.  We had also invited her and her sister to some of our fist Bible studies. They came, argued their memorized points of doctrine and never came back. This began to make an impact on her. Since then, God has caused a number of difficulties in her life to show her deep emptiness. Last month she returned to class and reconnected with my wife and this years summer interns. About three weeks ago she accepted Christ as her Savior a little after midnight on the beach with my wife and two of the summer interns. My wife was overwhelmed with joy when she busted through the door crying and hugging me. I was pretty happy, too. She is some of the first fruits of the ministry here and the first lady to accept Christ. 

I am always interested in knowing what goes on the heart and life of a person like her who comes to Christ. So here is my assessment after talking with her and my wife:

-She had been trained as a child to pray by threat of beatings. This, I learned yesterday, is the norm for kids growing up in a Muslim home. Pray or get beaten. This had led her to feel hurt and anger toward her dad. This has been the one common denominator in all believers in Christ from Muslim countries that I have met. 

-She had tried to satisfy herself with Islam. For a few years in her life she prayed 5 times/day, wore the head covering, read the Koran, and was the most religious of her family. She found after a time that it was empty and she felt very far from God. 

-She had moved to the other extreme when she first heard the Gospel. She hadn’t prayed for years and was going to the disco’s dancing and drinking. She felt great, unremovable guilt from that lifestyle. 

-She had a number of difficulties as a result of her religion that caused her to be open to hearing “alternate truth”: She had been married off to an older man who never loved her. She was expected to be a submissive women. She divorced him before a year was up. He sister was being  rejected by the family for marrying a Catholic. She loved her sister so this fact of her religion hurt her.

She saw a different spirit in the Christians that hang out with us. When she was taught about Christ she was ready to accept the Savior. Pray for God to work through all these situations in the lives of Muslims all around the world.