As I continue speaking to churches about Nuru Ya Mapendo, I continue to challenge and think about the picture of the Kingdom of God that I have in my mind. I receive questions about why someone would leave a good job, a home, a family and all the conveniences that being an American affords me. My answer is usually “because I answer to a high power. Because I am called.”
Why Africa? I can’t explain that either, it just “is”. A relative over the weekend listened to the challenges I would be facing during my first few months in Kasenga, and asked “Do you really have peace about this decision? You’re talking about things most people can’t even imagine and you are so calm about it!”
I breathed a sigh and I replied “I have more peace about this than anything I have ever done in my entire life. ..and that is how I know it is true.”
God through His Spirit gave me a tiny vision about His Kingdom during my first visit to Africa in 2006. Because the realization of His Kingdom is important to God, it has become very important to me. My words are very simplistic and I boldly make the disclaimer that I am not omniscient!
The Church is part of the Kingdom, but it is not the whole. I believe that the Kingdom is the most challenging place of the deepest human need. The Kingdom requires a network- a family if you will- to partner, to work, to realize and meet that deepest need. The unique and wonderful gifts that God has given to us are used to perfection, yieldng the fruits of the Spirit to the giver, and a unique sense of wholeness to the recipient. There are no barriers to belong to this family- not color, not gender, not tribe, not social standing, not border, not country.
The way to meet that need is experimental and flexible, often changing as participants move in and out of the network. It is also unlimited in its scope of outreach, based on the commitment and the passion of its servants. Meeting this deepest need is not dependent upon the recipient’s response, nor is it dependent upon a verbal presentation of the Gospel. Jesus is able to sort out the truth according to the love that is given, according to those who are willing to lay all of their life down so that others may live.
This is the wonderful mystery known as mission- how God can use His family to send, to give, to support, to encourage, to pray, to work, to network, to communicate, to love- all to reach and meet the deepest human need. Whenever we humans get it all “right”, there will no longer by any need for mission. His Kingdom will have been realized, and we will all rejoice in the greatness of God. How I long for that day, to rejoice that LOVE has won! I give God the rest of my life to bring it sooner.