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Friday night a Church member came by and asked if he could sleep at the house since he and another member were going spearfishing at 6:00 in the morning.  I told him that was fine, but when he asked if I wanted to go I just laughed.  Partly because that would be mean getting up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning but more because I didn’t want to humiliate myself

You see I don’t get to spend a lot of time in the water (only if someone has a pool) and these men on the other hand have been on the ocean pretty much all their lives.  So what would be second nature for them in my case would be an opportunity to embarrass myself in spectacular fashion.  But when my friend came to spend the night and encouraged me to join them I ended up agreeing.

When going on a spearfishing trip with those men there were only three responsibilities

1. Row the boat
2. Skin and gut the fish
3. Clean the boat down afterwards
4. The actual spearfishing was carried out by a Church member who had done it since he was ten years old, so I was part of the “boat crew” that picked up the fish and skinned them.

It didn’t take long for my utter lack of experience on the ocean reveal itself

As I rowed with all my might in order to make the boat go five inches

While I attempted to skin a fish somehow managed to cut it in half

And while I didn’t get any fish, did catch a nasty sunburn

Whenever one of them asked if I wanted to do something I responded in the same way.  Saying the word “okay” in a voice that shared no confidence whatsoever, and a look of pure terror in my eyes, but of course that didn’t keep me from having lots of fun 🙂

While these kinds of experiences can be tough, they are also absolutely necessary because they allow people to see that we are human, and can deal with embarrassment in a mature way.

The thing is if the Church members only see me doing things that I’m really good at (preaching, teaching, working with children) and never something that I don’t do very well it can give them the idea that I’m good at everything…or even more dangerous that could mean I refuse to let them see me show weakness

However a willingness to embrace weakness reveals Godly character

1. Not being afraid to laugh at myself
2. A willingness to ask for help
3. A determination to try again even though last time it didn’t do very well
4. And confessing that another person knows how to do something better than me

Deeper than that I’m thankful for the spearfishing trip because the Lord’s using things like that to help me attempt things that are scary or out of my areas of strength.  Often the Lord calls us to do things that fit in with strengths or abilities, but sometimes to test our faith He calls us to go spearfishing.

In those moments we should respond with a very weak “okay” instead of waiting for the fear to go away.

Just don’t be afraid to laugh if you fail

As I was walking to the house yesterday a little boy  came hurrying up to greet me.  We walked for a while talking and as I got to the house he informed me that the missionaries wife who I’m filling for along with her husband made food for  him every time he came by.

This isn’t abnormal since a number of children have already come by ringing the doorbell and asking me for food since the missionaries wife always cooked things for them.

I’m actually not questioning their honesty about being fed  since she was well-known for being a very good cook.  It was after asking what she made them that the truth seemed to be stretched a bit.

When I asked Church members they said  she would make things like cookies or pancakes with the  occasional sandwich.  My new friend yesterday confidently told me  she made him roasted chicken and salad 🙂
Now this dear women may  have  actually prepared roasted chicken and salad for that little boy…but I’m pretty sure the line of children demanding tier roasted chicken would be a mile long if she did it often.

Though a little disappointed about not getting roasted chicken the boy was happy to come inside (I don’t do this often but he was able to prove he had been visiting the Church regularly) and take two-dollars for cookies (I’m not heartless after all).  He sat down on the couch while I sat in a chair and asked what he enjoyed about Church.  After a  few minutes of talking he got very quiet…

Is that your  tablet?  He asked motioning to my iPad on the kitchen table with wide eyes

I nodded yes and handed it to him  with a few ground rules

1. No using the internet
2. He can only play with it for five minutes
3. And it was done with me nearby…prepared to  tackle him if he made a break for it 🙂

After he was  done we went  through some “negotiations” and decided on Monday he would come to the missionary’s house after school where I  would supply him with cookies (perhaps pancakes) and thirty minutes with my iPad.

It’s kind of funny but I’ve been praying that the Lord would provide something that would bring the children of Barrouaille to my front porch so I could share the Gospel with them.  Cooking was the Missionaries wifes way of doing it, but my “baking skills” leave a lot to be desired.  It’s possible that something like a tablet can be what God has provided to connect with the children of Barrouaille.

I’m not quite ready to have children ringing my bell all day asking to play with my tablet Editors note:  the boy coming Monday was given clear instructions that ONLY HE can come to play with the iPad.  If there is more than one child, the door stays closed   However if loaning my iPad out for ten minutes is  what it takes for them to hear the  Gospel…then that’s what I will do.

  
Coming back to the island is an incredible blessing because I have a much better idea about what the Lord would have me do here as I wrote yesterday, but at the same time I need to step from “learning the culture” to ministry within it for the Gospel of Christ.

Thankfully the Lord has given me lots of work do as Pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Barrouaille while their pastor is in the States. I’m incredibly grateful for ministry opportunities that include sermon preparation, preaching, discipleship, visitation, and transporting people to services.

The truth is Tabernacles ministry keeps me busy from 7:00 till about 4:00 every day with the occassional nap 🙂 and I meet with Church members three or four nights a week. As awesome as that is though my heart knows in order to truly reach Barrouaille time every day must be spent reaching the unsaved of my town

And that’s where things get hard

See most of my experience is in helping out with ministries that have already been established (like Tabernacle) or working with a Missionary team. At this point there aren’t any clearly defined outreach ministries in Barrouaille for Tabernacle, the reason for this is evangelism on the island is based on relationships. That’s a great thing, but can be hard when you don’t have deeply connected relationships.

Because of this yesterday I started setting aside an hour or two each day to connect with the unsaved of Barrouaille. But that’s still being done very differently than in the States.

In the US finding a way to connect with lost people is easy

1.  Volunteer in schools or other area
2. Get involved with different community groups
3. Become part of an already established outreach ministry with your Church, or Bible study

These kind of things aren’t prominent in a place like Barrouaille so instead of googling for “volunteer opportunities” I take a prayer walk in the rain.
My prayer walk involves things like

1. Making eye contact and saying good afternoon, or good morning
2. Lots of smiling
3. Praying for the people of Barrouaille
4. Reminding myself to slow down (I tend to walk too fast)
5. And ocassionally get caught in a rain storm

Now in a moment of honesty I would say smiling and greeting people doesn’t seem as important as doing something physical (like english tutoring for instance). And the truth is those prayer walks right now probably AREN’T as powerful as ministry in the culture.

But thats okay because I don’t go on prayer walks because of what they accomplish today anyways…I go on prayer walks for what they will accomplish in the future.

Because that smile and greeting will eventually turn into a “how are you today?”

And a short conversation that allows me to share the Gospel

And over time longer discussions about Christ

It’s tempting to start looking for the larger opportunities instead of going for a prayer walk in the morning or afternoon. But in the long run God will accomplish more with one prayer walk than all the english lessons in the world.