"I will speak your name!"

When you hear of someone speaking your name, what do you do?  What do you think?  I like to read, as well as listen to podcasts.  Some times you come across stories that really speak to your heart.  I heard this one, but not sure of the source of it.

In a certain village in Africa there came a disease the struck most of the villagers.  When it was over, nearly all in the village were blind.  Word of the problem reached a mission station some distance away. The doctor there set out to reach that village to see if he could help. After a long journey he arrived and began the process of determining what had caused this dreaded blindness. After some time he discovered that he had the means to treat the people and cure the blindness.  He worked hard day after day, God blessed his efforts and people were able to see again.  

When the doctor completed the work he was slightly taken aback that no one expressed 'thank you' to him for all the work.  Upon investigating, he discovered that there was no word in their particular language for 'thank you.' He could see that people were very happy to be able to see again.  As he was preparing to leave, one of the elders of the village came and shook his hand, and looking him in the eye said "I will make your name known. I will speak your name. You have done so much for us."  As the doctor made his journey home, he realized that what the elderly man said was profound.

What a challenging story!  When we look intently at what Jesus has done for each of us, when we read the gospels to know Him, when we ask God to give us understanding of who He is and what he is like and what he has done, how can we not also, like the elderly man cured of his blindness, say to God – "I will make your name known.  I will speak your name."

That is really what Sally and I and others in our group are here in Africa to do.  To speak of the mighty name of Jesus, to tell of all that he has done, of his love for all, and of his fulfilling the law perfectly, and then dying on the cross in our place to make a way for us to have a restored relationship with the Father.  To do that in the heart language of the people that we are here to serve.  

Our section of our organization has as a motto "Shatter the Darkness" (you see the logo on the right side of the blog).  It comes from Psalm 96:3 where the writer implores us to "Declare His glory among the Nations…" It's another way of saying "I will make your name known."

I want to encourage you to do just that in your home, in your villages, in your workplace, where ever you are.  And if you have never known Jesus, I want to encourage you to get a version of the bible that you can read easily, and start reading about Jesus in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John as a starting point.  Ask God to show you just who Jesus is and what he is all about.  You will be amazed.

In closing, I want to thank you for praying for us as we traveled LONG distances to our meeting in Nairobi and back.  We only have one flat tire, and that after we had parked for the night.  All our people arrived safely, even the special guests from America.  We went away encouraged, uplifted, refreshed from the teaching, the discussions, the fellowship.

Daily by His grace, speaking His name…