Since Before You Were Born

Well, I’m happy to say that as of this morning, we are well and truly HOME.  Thankfully, it was a non-eventful (albeit three flights and 20+ hours) home. We decided to go straight to a hotel and sleep for about 24 hours before seeing the kids. That made it easier for our German friends as well, since that gave them one more day to pack before moving out of our house and starting on their own incredible journey back to their homeland.

So I want to tell you about a story that is still in the process of unfolding, that I was privileged to hear in Hong Kong.

It was a fantastic weekend at the International Baptist Church there, with Tony. Leading a discipleship seminar on Saturday and preaching on Sunday, followed by a visit to a high-end Chinese restaurant and enough yum cha to feed the whole city, compliments of our wonderful friends at IBC. We rejoiced with them that we’ve been in and out of their lives for almost 30 years!  Wow.

Besides the familiar faces, one of the first I noticed was a face that announced, “Africa”. After living and working in three African countries, I could sort of surmise that he wasn’t from Hong Kong.

Anyway, this young man at church caught my eye, not only because of his colour, but because in a sea of Asian faces, he quickly stood out.

The next thing that stood out were the happy faces of the kids surrounding him. I soon learned that Carlos (which I learned was his name) is the Children and Youth minister for the church.

Before we knew it, we were all gathered around a burgeoning lazy Susan filled with food and sitting across from Carlos. There’s something about a rotating table that promotes conversation, and I naturally asked about his circumstances, as I tend to do with people that look interesting, but I don’t think I was prepared for the answer, and in fact was in tears when he finished.

“You see,” he began, “when I was just 8, my entire family was killed in a car accident.  It was during the civil war in Liberia, and my Dad was the head intelligence officer for the government.”

You may remember Tony and I lived in Liberia in the late 70’s so as he talked, we could picture the chaos and senseless killing during that military coupe. I think I’ve written elsewhere about this time and how it inadvertently affected our little Woods family, but anyway, him mentioning it certainly brought back some memories, and they weren’t good.  

Anyway, Carlos was not in the car, but became an instant orphan, as well as losing his older brother.  Because his father was from South Africa, there were no relatives around to help. Finally a “friend” of his father took him ……. and moved him to Ghana.

Now there are heaps and heaps of languages in Africa.  Already at 8 years old, Carlos probably spoke at least 2 or 3, including Liberian English and whatever tribal language was in his area, as well as his parents’ language.  Now he had to learn some more.  He was treated all right and somehow developed into a much-valued soccer player.  By the time he was 14, he began to move around Africa with various soccer teams.  Families would host him for months or years, while he played soccer and just lived his life.  He had a lot of questions for God, but at that time he didn’t believe God existed, so didn’t bother with them. 

Then there was a neighbour.  He asked the now teenage Carlos if he wanted to go to Church, and Carlos figured, “why not?” So he went several times.  Trouble was, as soon as he got to church, he’d cut out the back door and enjoy himself in town.

Finally, another friend asked him why he was so mean to the kind neighbour.  Carlos realised that this guy was perhaps the very first person who was being kind to him, not because he could play soccer, but just because he was kind ……… so he stayed at church. 

Once the Gospel message made its way into his heart, Carlos accepted Christ as his Saviour. It was then that he was able to look back and see God’s Hand on him his whole life. In war torn Liberia, he would have had nowhere to go, no way of sustaining himself at such a young age.  Anything could have happened.  , The ‘friend’ from Ghana as well could have done anything with him, including selling him …… his life was indeed a gift.

And then, that was the end of the meal, and sadly the end of the story for me.  But WOW!  A boy without a chance, and a kind neighbour!

Carlos has a new wife in the Philippines, and as soon as the paperwork is finished, he will be joining her there. Together, they plan to serve the Lord in whatever capacity God calls them. 

Please pray for Carlos, an amazing man with an amazing story: a story that God knew about and prepared him for since before he was born.

And the same can be said of each and every one of us.

And I’ll leave you with Tony’s sermon text for last Sunday.  

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  (Ephesians 2:10

Thanks again, 

Marsha


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