In Erwin McManus’s book Barbarian Way he tells a story of his son on the roof of their house asking if he could jump from two stories up. Of course he asked his dad as mom would say no and as expected she did. Dad said, go ahead just make sure you clear the cement. Now when I read this story I thought of my dad in some way. He let me learn on my own over the past years. Now it isn’t that he wouldn’t give me advice or point me in the right direction. He would do that, but always fall short of a clear answer. He would also try to stretch me in my life, which was good. I remember my decision to go into the army national guard. I don’t remember a clear path or him telling me what to do, but I do remember my mom not wanting me to do it and him being supportive of whatever decision I would make. That was all I really needed as my call to step out on my own. Erwin says later “Is it possible your father is also calling you to jump or at least encouraging you to do so? Is the Spirit of God stirring within you, pleading with you to stop settling for the status quo.” For me over the years there have been multiple times that I believe my Heavenly Father was calling me to jump. Now I wasn’t always excited for these jumps, but I guess you could say I did them anyway. As I look back over the past say 8+ years of my life, where I have come and gone. It only amazes me how I have changed and how these jumps have shaped my life.
I remember the reason my mom didn’t want me to go into the guards was fear of going to war or having to serve over seas. Now I am by no means one that takes a lot of risks and I was fine with that until I read this. “It is true that the enemy will essentially leave you alone if you are domesticated.” I pulled up domesticated on http://www.dictionary.com because I have always kind of taken it as a semi-negative word. Here is what it said “to tame (an animal), esp. by generations of breeding, to live in close association with human beings as a pet or work animal and usually creating a dependency so that the animal loses its ability to live in the wild”. I think I have more fear of becoming dependent or losing my ability to do something than I do of most anything. I want my faith to be strong and focused on who He is and what He has in store for my life.
I look back over the last three years or so and I have seen many people struggle in life. This whole domesticated quote makes me think. I have seen friends struggle with a wife having severe back problems in which she needed surgery, a miscarriage in a strong marriage, a man who’s two year old son has a battle with cancer, a women get multiple concussions, aneurisms and other health issues. All these just before the people were to leave or planning to go on a mission trip. There are even more that I know of second hand but these I have just heard of or seen first hand in the past couple years. It really makes me think hard on this whole domesticated statement. Are there times in my life that I become tamed/domesticated? Is my life easy because I am not living extremely for Him? That my faith has become weaker in which Satan may not worry about me as being a threat to his plan.
This doesn’t mean that I am going to live a crazy lifestyle jumping off of cliffs, sky diving, or bungee jumping, but that I want to focus more on stepping out of that comfort zone I think I may have put myself in far to often and have more faith. I have a great person in my life who once told me that I remind her of a Rhinosourus for their strength and stability. Well, I just found out that a group of Rhinos is called a Crash. Not a herd, but a crash. The reason behind this is that they can run 30mph but can only see 30 feet in front of them. Am I ready to run full speed a head without being able to see where I am going? Just running after Him in Faith………
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Ethiopia
It has been a while since I posted last but here is something that I have been working on and has been near to my heart. I am preparing to sent this in the mail to many friends and family. Check out the amazing stories.
Dear Friends and Family,
I am extremely excited to be writing you right now. I am writing you to share some amazing stories from Ethiopia because in one way or another you have played a part in my recent trips to Ethiopia, so I wanted you to hear the updates that I have received in the last couple of months. These updates I am about to share are so amazing to me that I can’t not contain my joy in the way that the Lord has used these hostels to reach not only the Borana area in Ethiopia but also the entire country of Ethiopia and even people here in the United States. We have all played a role as seen in Romans 10
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"”
Romans 10:14-15
To start out I received two emails. The first one was to tell me that 5 students from the boys High School Hostel/Dormitory have now moved onto Universities through out Ethiopia. This is amazing that not only have these boys become Christians, but now they have been given an amazing opportunity to further their education. My excitement on this only grew as I talked to my Ethiopian friend that I work with at Goodrich and he told me that only 3-5 percent of those that take the entrance test actually get into Universities. Now I don’t know how to verify this at this time but to see his face light up when he heard that was completely amazing as he was also able to play a role in these trips. If the 3-5 percent is even close to the current percentage that is only another way the Lord is working.
The next email I received was even more exciting to hear that the Boys High School Dormitory we helped build in Yabello in 2008 was actually housing 50 boys. This building built only 1 year ago is actually almost at capacity. Coupled this with the fact that these boys and a couple girls now living in Yabello are looking at starting a church in this small Ethiopian town. I can’t imagine myself as a High School student along with my friends looking at actually starting a church. The Lord is using these boys and girls in such amazing ways, how can we not be filled with joy in from seeing Him work through them.
In this last email it only got better. Within each one of these dorms there is an adult or family that stays there are missionaries there to teach these children the gospel in the evenings. Now they are also building relationships with the communities in the area. In doing this they have been invited to a small community about 15Km east of where we stayed in 2007. They went and shared the gospel with those who attended and 16 people gave their lives to Christ. This is a strong Muslim community so this shows that the possibilities are endless when God is at work.
In closing I want to thank each and everyone of you for the role you have played in His work in Ethiopia. He is completely amazing and what He can do is definitely infinite and this is only a small example of how great He really is.
God Bless,
Jason Langfield
Dear Friends and Family,
I am extremely excited to be writing you right now. I am writing you to share some amazing stories from Ethiopia because in one way or another you have played a part in my recent trips to Ethiopia, so I wanted you to hear the updates that I have received in the last couple of months. These updates I am about to share are so amazing to me that I can’t not contain my joy in the way that the Lord has used these hostels to reach not only the Borana area in Ethiopia but also the entire country of Ethiopia and even people here in the United States. We have all played a role as seen in Romans 10
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"”
Romans 10:14-15
To start out I received two emails. The first one was to tell me that 5 students from the boys High School Hostel/Dormitory have now moved onto Universities through out Ethiopia. This is amazing that not only have these boys become Christians, but now they have been given an amazing opportunity to further their education. My excitement on this only grew as I talked to my Ethiopian friend that I work with at Goodrich and he told me that only 3-5 percent of those that take the entrance test actually get into Universities. Now I don’t know how to verify this at this time but to see his face light up when he heard that was completely amazing as he was also able to play a role in these trips. If the 3-5 percent is even close to the current percentage that is only another way the Lord is working.
The next email I received was even more exciting to hear that the Boys High School Dormitory we helped build in Yabello in 2008 was actually housing 50 boys. This building built only 1 year ago is actually almost at capacity. Coupled this with the fact that these boys and a couple girls now living in Yabello are looking at starting a church in this small Ethiopian town. I can’t imagine myself as a High School student along with my friends looking at actually starting a church. The Lord is using these boys and girls in such amazing ways, how can we not be filled with joy in from seeing Him work through them.
In this last email it only got better. Within each one of these dorms there is an adult or family that stays there are missionaries there to teach these children the gospel in the evenings. Now they are also building relationships with the communities in the area. In doing this they have been invited to a small community about 15Km east of where we stayed in 2007. They went and shared the gospel with those who attended and 16 people gave their lives to Christ. This is a strong Muslim community so this shows that the possibilities are endless when God is at work.
In closing I want to thank each and everyone of you for the role you have played in His work in Ethiopia. He is completely amazing and what He can do is definitely infinite and this is only a small example of how great He really is.
God Bless,
Jason Langfield
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