Where is your 'End of the World'?

 Dear Faithful Followers,

Well, we finished the “Revelation Tour of the 7 churches” It was definitely a highlight of our life, but not for the timid or unsteady (as we were frequently).  Every day was over 100 degrees and ruins have a funny habit of being dry, dusty and out under the open blazing sky. We had such a fun (and young) group and we all came away with a deep appreciation of each other’s life journeys as well as of Paul and all those other church fathers, who didn’t have big air conditioned buses! 

So if you’re reading this, we have made it safely out of Turkey even though all thru the week they were experiencing a lot of forest fires, with the smoke closing the airport, and making all kinds of inconveniences!

But as we continue……….

So another unbelievable affirmation I had from God was in the form of making a comment about someone’s jacket

We were still in Cardiff, at the church we mentioned before.  Like I said, we were in a funk emotionally (homesick) and I think now it was just God putting his hand on our shoulder and giving us a bit of encouragement.

Anyway, after church, we were milling around with the Welsh congregation, smiling and trying to imagine what they were saying.

And then I saw a beautiful, stately African woman approaching.  I just had to say something about the brightly woven jacket she was wearing.

“Where are you from,” I asked.  This I a tricky question, especially in Australia, where the answer is often simply, in a somewhat offended tone, “Australia!”  But I could tell this woman was definitely not Welsh, I risked being offensive.

“Tanzania” she beamed brightly.

Now let me stop the music here and interject how this answer would be affecting me.  

When we were just 22 and 24, we were on our way to be Baptist short-term missionaries in Zambia, Africa.  We had asked to be sent to Switzerland or Bali (this perhaps a revealing glimpse of our deep commitment to comfort over commitment,) and then, after interviewing us, they announced that we were going to Africa.  It may have been with huge consternation that we accepted the call, and we were, must I say, very nervous, wondering if we were up to the task.  As our fears were realised, the young missionary woman who picked us up explained that the flight had been  waylayed, and we would need to drive across two countries in wild Africa for thousands of miles to our work assignment.  After the first long day, we stopped for the night in a small town dominated by a large Baptist Hospital, run by our organisation. 

We were able to stay in some hospital housing, basically concrete blocks with open holes for windows.  In the night some wild dogs killed a goat (we think) outside our window.  Of course we barely slept.

And then things got worse.  The next day, barely cognisant, we were offered a tour of “Our Baptist Hospital”. made famous thanks to mission magazine articles over the years.  Our guide was a missionary who had hepatitis, but felt well enough and offered to show us around.

After about the third patient he showed us, I fainted.  

In hindsight, we missionaries like to name off our “End of the world” as Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 and 20.  Thankfully nothing has happened worse to me in all these years and Mbeya,Tanzania remains my “end of the world”.

Back to the story.

But back to the church in Wales I ventured further, I said “Oh Really!, Where in Tanzania?”

You guessed it.  

“Mbeya Tanzania”

I blanched and said I’d been there.

She continued, “Yes, I was  born in that hospital, it was the best in 1000 miles and my Daddy was the Administrator!”

I spared her my thoughts and stood there and realised again, God is in control.  He knows what we can handle and what we can’t ………and he also knows when to make a casual conversation remind you that HE IS IN ALWAYS IN CONTROL

I recovered enough to find out that this beautiful woman had a lovely family, three teenage boys, a PHD and a high power job in the government!  As the ol’ Gospel preacher used to say, “God don’t make no junk”. 

Just as a postscript, in the next ensuing years, the only two serious life threatening surgeries I’ve ever experienced, were in similar bush hospitals in Africa!  Be assured: God is always in control!”

Till next time!  

Marsha