Dear Family and Friends,
We call these things prayer letters. I need your prayers.
I feel like that debtor in Jesus’ story who had been forgiven much but refused to forgive others (Matthew 18).
I recently found out that our Word Made Flesh community has been deceived for the past five years by some of our closest friends here in Sierra Leone.
What would you do if you found out your friends had been hiding things from you for half a decade?
Frankly, I am angry. I’m more than mad. I’m furious. I’m livid.
I’m hurt.
A big part of me just wants to cut them off. Tear them out of my heart and my schedule.
World War III is exploding in my soul.
The first side fires snapshot charges of unconditional love. FLASH! Joseph embraces and rescues his treacherous brothers from famine. FLASH! Prophet Hosea is faithful to his prostitute wife, Gomer. FLASH! A rebellious son comes home, and a party is thrown. FLASH! Jesus, hanging, “Forgive them…”
Yes, I breathe deeply, eyes softening. These exquisitely poetic pictures of faithful care are what called me here in the first place.
The opponent returns fire with red-hot ferocity. BOOM! What about consequences? (Does this modern term subtly replace vengeance? Or justice? Whose are these anyway?) BOOM! Protect yourself. BOOM! All Sierra Leoneans are liars. BOOM! They will never change.
These disparate thoughts are tearing Grand Canyon-like fissures in my heart.
Phillip Yancey writes, “Problems are opportunities to see God.”
I like that reframe. This is a big opportunity to try to live out Jesus’ wisdom, which seems so foolish and vulnerable by the world’s standards.
For almost three years now, I have been encouraging my friends in Freetown to forgive the many atrocities they experienced during the war.
Now, all eyes are on me.
Can I practice what I’ve preached?
In Matthew 18, just before Jesus admonishes us to forgive 70 x7, and then tells the parable of the ungrateful debtor, he gives us a promise:
“I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”
So I am asking you to pray. Pray that we all (my beloved supporters, WMF staff, and our friends here in Sierra Leone) would
have the courage and faith
to live forgiven,
and forgiving,
so that we can experience God.
Love,
Cami