|
By Scott Hafemann
I feel very sad as I write this letter, offering up my prayers for our brothers and sisters in Chad with a heavy heart, having caught just a glimpse of how hard it must be these days in N'djaména. Having spent most of December there, the images of the city and its people, the churches and our people, are very fresh. And the question naturally comes: in the midst of the terrible death and destruction that has once again come to Chad, why continue to invest in children and students in the midst of so much suffering?
God's answer from his Word is clear: because keeping our commitment to the children and students of Chad is an expression of our hope in his sovereignty and love, even in the midst of the worst of days: "I hope for your salvation, O Lord, and [so] I do your commandments" (Ps 119:166). We work because we trust that God is at work to establish his rule in the lives of his people, and through them, to spread his glory, yes glory, to the ends of the earth. And as the Bible makes clear, he often works through terrible suffering to do so, as demonstrated by the suffering of his own Son. So we continue to rescue children and train leaders for the church in the midst of the present sorrow because we trust God for the future of his people in Chad. Our work is a work of hope in the God who keeps his promises. The children who are now being fed, clothed, and taught, physically and spiritually are the future of Chad. The men and women who are now being trained to lead the churches of Chad are the future of Chad. Not because we believe in progress but because we trust in God.
Many of us know the famous declaration of Lamentations 3:22-23, words issued in the midst of the utter destruction of another city, Jerusalem: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." How could he say this when there was so much suffering due to the sin of our fallen world? The answer is in the next verse: "'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'" Not the circumstances but the Lord is our hope, and thus the students and children of Chad are our work. Thank you for your gifts of hope for those in hopeless circumstances.
|
