What does it mean to follow Jesus?

J’ai décidé de suivre Jésus
I have decided to follow Jesus
Pour toujours, pour toujours
No turning back, no turning back

I think back to August, when Naomi and I got baptized in the river behind the ICA campus. We stood on the river bank with all of the campus staff workers, as Sarah (an Ivorian sister in Christ) sang this song in French, and then in Bombara. What does it mean to follow Jesus?

Oswald Chambers excerpts from My Utmost for His Highest:

October 31st Then God withdrew his conscious blessings in order to teach you to walk by faith.

November 1st Why shouldn’t we go through heartbreaks? Through those doorways, God is opening up ways of fellowship with his son.

November 2nd The Lord does not give me rules. He makes his standard very clear, and if my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without any hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone else in competition him: myself. […] If I obey Jesus Christ in the haphazard circumstances, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God.

November 3rd “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” (Galatians 2:20). These words mean the breaking of my independence with my own hand and surrendering to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. […] Is He going to help Himself to us, or are we taken up with our conception of what we are going to be?

November 4th To act on the truth of God.. Once a man acts, he is never the same. It is the foolishness of it that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing.

God’s voice to me in this past week has been inescapable, irresistible. I wish I could describe it to you. I’ll try. It’s a little like trying to deny that morning has arrived when all you want to do is stay in bed, attempting to ignore a child who has her heart set on your attention, or trying to sleep at an all night veille when the balafones are playing in your ears.

I just arrived back in Cote d’Ivoire, after a week in Paris with the team I came with in October of 2010. We ate lots of cheese, enjoyed French wine, met some seriously awesome people, saw some of the beautiful city, and encouraged one another - sharing how we’ve seen one another grow in the past year. It was the perfect end to a year of God given fellowship. On the last night, my team encouraged me in my desire to go straight back to RCI, to follow Jesus no matter the cost. There were a lot of tears.

And as Monday, the 31st drew near, the day they would all get on a plane to the US, I started praying for God to prepare my heart. I asked for His strength and knowledge that He was in control. I prayed for a renewed passion for His people in Cote d’Ivoire. What He gave me proved that He is faithful.

Those excerpts from Chambers may seem like simply a list of statements, but they are what God has been speaking to me. I asked for comfort and strength, and He gave me freedom to follow Him. I am learning that sacrifice means more than I once thought. "You are not your own; you were bought with a price." (1Corinthians 6:19). And while it hurts to see my teammates leave, it hurts even more to give up my own plans. I guess I was holding onto them more closely than I realized.

But here is what this all comes down to: God is faithful. I expected to grieve for days over the loss of CJ, Jason, Chazz, Naomi, Heidi, and Holly (save Devin and Alyssa who are coming back). But, instead, God has moved me to pray continuously for them as they enter back into Western culture, with friends and family who don’t understand why they miss the sound of a balafone, peanut sauce, or their Ivorian families. And He has filled me with the sureness that I want nothing more than to live my life for the purpose of His redemption. I don’t know what that means yet. But I do have a stillness in my heart, a knowledge that my life is completely safe in His hands. Complete and utter surrender means that my plans may not work out, but I finally have the courage to believe that His are better. There are tears in my eyes, as I write this! Mostly from joy and realization that I am out of my mind, for the sake of Christ (2 Corinthians 5). I have a restless excitement in my bones. I know there is an adventure ahead. I’ve got nothing but the clothes on my back and Jesus as my companion.

Tonight, I’m going to Daboukallah, to attend an all night funeral, to celebrate the life of a major pastor in the Baptiste church, here in Cote d’Ivoire. Can’t think of any better way to jump back into Ivorian culture!


Prayer requests:

Heidi, CJ, Chazz, Devin, Alyssa, Holly, Naomi, and Jason as they enter back into the US. Pray that God will give them the words they need to describe their lives in RCI, and God will lead them into what’s next.

Alyssa and Devin as they prepare to come back at the end of this month.

Steve and Jessica Wilman who are coming to join us for 2 years at the end of this month!

On Tuesday (8th), I am taking a bus to Abidjan with my friends Timothee, Mai, and Tenan. On Wednesday, we’re going to Ghana until the 18th, to attend 2 conferences on business and leadership in West Africa. Pray that it will be a great time of fellowship and hearing from God

Pray for Cote d'Ivoire's rebuilding projects. As I rode through Bouake this morning on a moto, on my way to the internet cafe, I passed countless piles of rubble on the side of the road. Bulldozers are plowing down boutiques, clearing up the roads, and the city is planning to build a big market, like the one that burned down years ago. Crowds of people are just standing, watching it happen. It's sad, to see people's shops destroyed without their concent. Pray for the country's future.