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The Bungee Cord 7-26-21
Hello,
Some years ago, I spent 4 weeks in Cameroon, Africa traveling from village to village to share friendship with the people of the Lutheran churches in those towns. It was an amazing experience! I learned a lot!
I learned about humility and kindness. We travelled in an SUV; I think it was a Ford Bronco. Ten of us crammed into it. Three in the front seat. Three in the back seat and four in the cargo area, seated on benches, facing each other. The driver was a “professional”, which meant he knew the roads to all the villages, and had the skill to traverse the washouts and failed bridges along the way. There were four of us pastors from South Dakota, a couple of pastors from Cameroon, and the Bishop of the Cameroon Lutheran Church. When we loaded up for the first time, the Bishop instructed us that two of us would sit in the front seat, two in the middle and he and the others would fill in the rest. I was amazed when I saw the Bishop getting in the cargo area and take his seat on one of the benches. We, Americans, said, “Bishop, shouldn’t you be up front?” He said, “Oh no, if anyone saw me up front when we have visitors with us, I would be disgraced by everyone. No, No. I’ll just ride here in the back.”
I learned about enthusiasm for Jesus. Every town that we went to, we would meet with the people at the church building. Almost all of them were made out of hand formed clay bricks, and built by the people of the town. The windows had no glass in them, and people filled each one of them, peering inside. In one town the worship was being led by teen-age folks. I don’t remember what they used for instruments (there was no electricity there), but I do remember the drum set. It was set up as a trap set, but the drums were not what you and I would call drums. They were made of pots of various sizes, and the cymbals were pot lids. And playing them with the skill of an onstage performer was a boy with sticks in both hands. Amazing!
On the day that we were to arrive at a village, the village would send a welcoming delegation to the edge of the town early in the morning, and they would wait there until we came. Often not until midafternoon, and when we came, they summoned all the people of the village to come and welcome us. They lined the streets. They sang songs as we entered. And as they led the way, a couple of women in one town, sprinkled flowers along our path. They fed us food that they rarely ate, and they gave us their homes to stay in. At night, they would dance around a campfire, well into the morning, singing songs of faith.
I wish that I would have had my camera on me, once when we were travelling to another town out in the bush, for as we drove along and kicked up the dust, we came upon two people walking by the side of the road. One was a boy; I would guess that he was in his teens. He was attired in what we had become familiar in seeing….a well- worn, loose fitting tank top, shorts that we in like condition, and flip-flops. Behind him was an old man. Hunched over, eyes covered over in thick cataracts, his cheeks caved in, and wearing well- worn traditional robes. And between the two of them as they walked along was a 6-foot stick. The boy held it in his hand behind him, and the man held it in his hand in front of him. They walked slowly.
And when I saw it, the verse from Isaiah popped into my head, “and a young child shall lead them.” In that moment I saw God’s promise coming to life, the promise that even in this harsh and cruel world, God is at work to bring about hope and peace. God will not abandon us when we are weary and worn out, when our eyes have seen too much pain and sorrow, when the weight of the world has us hunched over….God will be with us, with us in a young child that was born in Bethlehem, travelled the washout roads of life, took his place on a cross, and rose victoriously to lead us on. It’s God’s promise that, in Jesus, he will lead us through this life, and I saw that promise living in front of me that day in the Cameroon bush.
The picture that you see was painted by my son this past summer, and it hangs in my family room, a picture full of the promise of God for you and for me. “And a young child shall lead them.”
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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