"People talk of the sacrifice
I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a
sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to
our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which
brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing
good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away
with the word in such a view and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it
is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger now
and then with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this
life, may make us pause and cause the spirit to waver and the soul to sink; but
let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice."
-Dr.
David Livingstone in a speech to students at Cambridge University (1857)
A good friend shared this word at a house church gathering recently,
and I’ve never heard the meditations of my heart quite so aptly
pronounced. The things I’ve gained in
Rwanda have been infinitely more valuable than the things I’ve “sacrificed”
from America. I have faced anxiety and
sickness (in more forms than I care to remember) and suffering and danger (every
time I drive down the road). I’ve
foregone the common conveniences and charities of this life (like shredded
cheese in 10 different varieties or electricity and water flowing into my house
at all hours of the day and night).
I have paused. My
spirit has wavered. My soul has sunk. But only for a moment because these light and momentary troubles are
achieving for me an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
I’ve grieved the loss
of the friends that so readily come and then go.
Surely he has borne our griefs
I’ve sorrowed over the tragic loss of my hero.
And carried our sorrows
I’ve been stricken with malaria.
Yet
we esteem him stricken
I’ve been afflicted with scooter accidents.
Smitten
by God and afflicted.
I’ve been wounded by harsh words.
But
he was wounded for our transgressions;
I’ve witnessed crushing oppression.
He
was crushed for our iniquities
I’ve watched the chastisement of the innocent.
Upon
him was the chastisement that brought us peace
I’ve seen the scars of the stripes of the weapons of
enemies.
And
with his stripes we are healed.
I have experienced His healing and restoration in so many
ways, and I can think of my time in Rwanda as nothing less than the greatest
privilege I could ever have been afforded.
It has been a great privilege to live with these fine ladies
who pray and play and eat and sing and cry and cook and scoot and learn and
laugh and party and love together.
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It has been a great privilege to mother and counsel and reprimand and teach and advise and rescue and doctor and love these fine performers whose light and momentary troubles have been far heavier and lengthier than my own.
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It was a great privilege to have deep conversations about
life and stars and God and suffering and plans and aspirations and ideas and people with the most incredible young man to ever escape the war-torn
bush of the DR Congo.
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It has been a great privilege to play and eat and laugh and
love and pray and dig into the Bible with some high school kids and great
friends every Tuesday afternoon at Campaigners.
It has been a great privilege to provide light and laughs
and costumes and games and puns and music and fun into the lives of people
facing anxiety, sickness, suffering, danger, foregoing of common conveniences
and charities of this life.
It has been a great privilege to be called Mommy and give a
kid some shoes and soap and toothpaste and school fees and a chance he’d
otherwise never have had to graduate from secondary school.
I am fully convinced that you will never find more quality
people in one place than the developing world because suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
and hope does not put us to shame…
What a privilege to meet and love and learn from and laugh with and cry to and serve with some of the finest people with the most character that this world has to offer. I never made a sacrifice.
