We've had a problem brewing for a while now and it recently reached a head when one of our trainer's wife showed up all battered at the house of a friend. The charge was that the husband returned in the wee hours of the morning drunk and in the ensuing argument, he beat her. The police got involved and the entire neighborhood knows about it. Our church leaders sprung into action and the couple received counseling and warnings and after a week in the home of one of our other leaders, they returned to their assigned home (to our chagrin) and it lasted two nights before the same scenario happened again. Drama that maligns the cause of Christ. It is heart-breaking and beyond understanding for someone who teaches others.
The culture here is unbelievably tolerant of things like this. I was discussing it with church leadership here in Maputo, and was basically told that this has been a problem in the past with this individual even before we got here and they thought it had been resolved. And I'm screaming inside "and you thought it was ok to send him with minimal supervision to a new province??? What were you thinking????" Somehow we 'missed that memo' and it is another picture of the tension of being a missionary. Hard as we try to be in the culture, we remain at a certain distance not because we want to but because - we are. I think it would take a lifetime. When leadership falls here, it is not only tolerated but almost expected.
But is that really so different than any other culture? The newspapers the world over are repleat with stories of corruption and moral failure of leadership. People in leadership start thinking they are somehow "different" or "better" than someone else when we know well that the Bible says that all are under sin, 'that no one is righteous, not even one...' (Romans 3:10)
Things like this are so difficult because you expect things to be different in the church, but in reality the church will mirror society to a certain degree because the church is made up of all of us flawed individuals. We've had four other moral failures with people in leadership over the past year. We've also had two cases of gonorrhea recently with married church members who look us in the eye (seeking medical advise) and say "I didn't fool around with anyone in the past two weeks". Well, someone did! God grant me the wisdom to speak the truth in love. And in these cases, it grieves us as if you have gonorrhea, the odds that you also contracted HIV is problably close to certain. It is heart-breaking and it is also simply bewildering.
People are drawn to those transformed through the life-changing power of Christ. It is something people desire, but it also requires a commitment to live holy lives, making those choices that are not always popular in the culture. God gives you the power but it is not something you can fake - though we can try it will only last so long. We must take up our cross daily, pray daily, seek His face daily, for our enemy roams around seeking whom he can devour. It's also probably no accident the verse below starts with the words "be sober, be vigilant."
Father in Heaven, strengthen our dear Mozambican church to seek your face daily for You and You alone are our source of strength as we face the challenges of life in any culture. Strengthen us in Your Calling and help us stand strong in these difficult times. Use us oh Lord for your name's sake. Amen.
Dave & Ann
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5:8
The culture here is unbelievably tolerant of things like this. I was discussing it with church leadership here in Maputo, and was basically told that this has been a problem in the past with this individual even before we got here and they thought it had been resolved. And I'm screaming inside "and you thought it was ok to send him with minimal supervision to a new province??? What were you thinking????" Somehow we 'missed that memo' and it is another picture of the tension of being a missionary. Hard as we try to be in the culture, we remain at a certain distance not because we want to but because - we are. I think it would take a lifetime. When leadership falls here, it is not only tolerated but almost expected.
But is that really so different than any other culture? The newspapers the world over are repleat with stories of corruption and moral failure of leadership. People in leadership start thinking they are somehow "different" or "better" than someone else when we know well that the Bible says that all are under sin, 'that no one is righteous, not even one...' (Romans 3:10)
Things like this are so difficult because you expect things to be different in the church, but in reality the church will mirror society to a certain degree because the church is made up of all of us flawed individuals. We've had four other moral failures with people in leadership over the past year. We've also had two cases of gonorrhea recently with married church members who look us in the eye (seeking medical advise) and say "I didn't fool around with anyone in the past two weeks". Well, someone did! God grant me the wisdom to speak the truth in love. And in these cases, it grieves us as if you have gonorrhea, the odds that you also contracted HIV is problably close to certain. It is heart-breaking and it is also simply bewildering.
People are drawn to those transformed through the life-changing power of Christ. It is something people desire, but it also requires a commitment to live holy lives, making those choices that are not always popular in the culture. God gives you the power but it is not something you can fake - though we can try it will only last so long. We must take up our cross daily, pray daily, seek His face daily, for our enemy roams around seeking whom he can devour. It's also probably no accident the verse below starts with the words "be sober, be vigilant."
Father in Heaven, strengthen our dear Mozambican church to seek your face daily for You and You alone are our source of strength as we face the challenges of life in any culture. Strengthen us in Your Calling and help us stand strong in these difficult times. Use us oh Lord for your name's sake. Amen.
Dave & Ann
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5:8
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