The Shumaker Family's Blog

Man alive, (have you ever noticed that we use some weird terminology) have I ever been encouraged. I was thinking that this conference would encourage our people and I hope it will, but I didn’t know how much I needed to be encouraged. I am with two nationals. One is an Ivorian pastor and the other is a Burkinabe, who got saved and trained in the Ivory Coast and then went as a missionary to Mali.

The Pastor has greatly encouraged my heart. There is a fight that goes on, not a physical one (well I have heard of it happening) but a fight of two different cultures and ideas coming together and clashing. This is the fight between the national(we use this term to describe the the people we minister to) and the missionary and it can be a big one. I have seen some horrible and terrible things go on between the two. People on both sides have been abused and mistreated. The Pastor, Ake Maxime, has been a huge blessing. He doesn’t seem to see the ministry like the others do. He isn’t relying just on Amercia to support him and the work. He told our people that their church is supported by their people. They are supporting missions(which is very rare once the missionary leaves). He has a great grip on the ministry. Sometimes we wonder if they(our church members) will ever get it. I taught the other week that there is a lie going around. The lie is that the Burkinabe are to poor and to uneducated to get the work done. I believe that this actually better qualifies them. In the Bible, most of the time God used the low and the poor so that in the end he would get all the glory. David was little, Gideon was from the poorest family in the neighborhood and he was the least in his family, Moses couldn’t speak right, a young boy had a small lunch that fed the multitudes, the disciples were just average men, Paul was sick (but was at his strongest when he had infirmities) etc. I told them we don’t need to think of American Christians, French Christians, Chinese Christians and Burkinabe Christians. WE ARE NOT DIVIDED; we are all children of the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. Our God is the same God that divided the red sea, defeated Goliath, multiplied the bread and fish, etc. He can use us here. I know that I am considered a missionary in America, but I am their Pastor and Shepherd. I love my people(those who God has given us) and I want to see God use them.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 17th, 2007 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.