According to Plan...

(image from http://www.architecture411.com/common/notes/1/plans.jpg)

 My first visit to East Africa was in January 2005.  The first major hitch in my plan was that I my original contact in Kenya seemingly had dropped off the face of the earth (or maybe into the Rift Valley), and I therefore had no one to pick me up at the airport -- and I was in London about to board a plane.  I quickly tapped out an email, shot up a prayer, and hit send.

When I deboarded in Kenya, there was a missionary woman waiting for me.  She was the mother of the former roommate of a cousin of a friend of a friend of mine.  Here are the first words she spoke to me:

"Are you Travis?  You've just learned your first lesson about Africa.  Plan A won't work.  Neither will Plan B.  And you can forget about Plan C."

My brief time in Kenya and Uganda confirmed her words, as have many missionaries and East Africans since.

But you know what?  I realized last week that it's not so different here in the States.  All I wanted on Thursday was a haircut (and a Cafe au Lait from that great little French place in Sewickley). I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say my hair is longer today rather than shorter, so obviously plans A-G didn't work.  Driving home frustrated I began thinking about  this at each of the 4 stoplights, and for some reason I kept hearing the refrain in my head, "...slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13.8).

As I reflected on the surprising connection between a frustrated haircut and an apocalyptic text, I had the following thought: God is outside time.  (Hardly original, I know. ) Right from the foundation of the world, according to Scripture, the Lamb was slain.  This event is the center of gravity for all of humanity's history.  Yet, from our perspective as linear, time-bound beings, it didn't happen until the 30's AD.  However, we read of the crucifixion and its outflow happening at the creation of the world. Since God exists eternally and in eternity, his plans don't necessarily follow a linear path.

And there's the rub.

As a follower of Jesus, I live according to God's plan, not my own plans.   I'm quite linear, as a human living in time.  God is not. That's why I'm often frustrated; that's why he isn't.  Underneath my frustration about my foiled haircut attempt is the fear that I'm running out of time.  Time isn't an issue for its Creator.  He is focused on a deeper work in me, in my family, in our communities, in our world -- his plan.

For just a moment, at the third stoplight as I thought about all this, I was able to be present to that greater work, that plan.  And I was at rest.  By the time I pulled in my driveway, of course, the stress began to build again.  These past several days, however, I've tried to make a practice of returning the third stoplight.

Hoisting the Sales

We cannot create the wind or set it in motion, but we can set our
sails to catch it when it comes; we cannot make the electricity, but
we can stretch the wire along upon which it is to run and do its work;
we cannot, in a word, control the Spirit, but we can so place
ourselves before the Lord, and so do the things He has bidden us do,
that we will come under the influence and power of His mighty breath.

(Streams in the Desert, p. 181)

(Photo from djpd's photostream)

This quotation summarized what we were hearing from God in early June of this year. We didn't know when the wind would blow -- when the Spirit would finally send us to Uganda -- but it was clear it was time to ready ourselves in a more radical way.

Now, almost 4 months later, we're seeing a stirring in the sails.  Our support steadily trickles in, more people and churches are expressing interest, I've left my work at Trinity, Leslie has started packing up our house, we're preparing to have a Yard Sale to say goodbye to most of our things....  We're living like we're leaving!

Because we are.

Here's a snapshot for those who are just joining us in our story.  In 2005, God made it clear he was calling us to Uganda.  What started as a small desire for our family to be shaped by East African Christians has grown into a vision for joining that African family in raising up a generation of Ugandans to reach the world for Christ!

(Baluka is one of those East Africans!)

So, four years later (and four years later than we had planned), we're going to be joining the faculty, staff, and students of Bishop Barham University in Kabale, Uganda.  I'll be overseeing their computer lab and teaching biblical studies, and all of us will be cultivating relationships in this wonderful community.

We'll also be joined by the Morrow family, a wonderful gift from God!  (Check out their bravescaredwarrior blog.)

 

(Yep, their kids -pictured here - look a lot like our older three.)

(see what I mean?)

  

While teaching, working in the computer lab, and working in the hospital (Morrows) will be our primary roles there, at the heart of our work is this vision of raising up a generation of East Africans to reach the world for Christ. Uganda has been doing this for a long time already, and the Christian community in Kabale has been a significant part of this work.  But there is more to be done, and they and God have invited us to join them.  We have lots of ideas, but we'll begin simply by living, learning, and loving with them.  And, as we go, we're being prepared, shaped and sent by Global Teams, who consistently reminds us that we are to be yearning toward "seeing the heart of Christ in the skin of every culture."

 

So, the wind is beginning to blow.  There is a lot between here and there, and the seas seem pretty chaotic and choppy to us at times.  That's why we're grateful to be following One who walks on water and hushes waves with a word -- and that's why we need you with us.