A richly blessed visit

For the past week or so I have been camped out in the book of Romans.  Like many passages and books I have read in the past, Romans did not have the impact on me before that it has in this last week.  It has taken me days to get through one chapter, sometimes even longer.  There is such rich truth to meditate on and digest in this book.  Such profound wisdom!  I think John Piper put it best by claiming that, “the apostle Paul is the greatest theologian that has ever walked planet earth besides Jesus Christ!  And the book of Romans is the best and greatest, deepest, highest, broadest, statement of theology that has ever been written down in one space!”  Amen!  I stand in agreement with Piper and his view on Paul and his book to the Romans.  It is the Holy Spirit’s inspired words of Paul that God has used to convict me, teach me and redirect my mindset over the past several days, hours, minutes and even seconds, in how He calls me to spend my time here in Tanzania. 

Over the past couple of weeks life here in Dar es Salaam has become very difficult for me… for a variety of reasons.  I have fallen into the enemy’s trap to distract me and focus my attention and time on the negative things that are going on here in an effort to keep me from remaining focused on God’s calling on my time in Africa.  Unfortunately, he has been successful in this.  I have been so easily captivated by all of the frustrations, hardships and annoyances that I encounter on a daily basis that I have slowly drifted farther and farther away from God’s purpose for me being here.  Isn’t that how the enemy works?  Nothing is ever abrupt and obvious when it comes to his manipulative and conniving schemes… but rather everything is smooth and subtle.  Slowly luring you down into a deeper and deeper pit of sin.

But praise God for His faithfulness and mercy to speak so clearly to us through His Word!  As I made my way through chapter 10 of Romans, I came to these passages that grabbed hold of me so tightly and really began to shake me and yell, “Webber!  Wake up!!!”…

“For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ 

But how are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed?

And how are they to believe in Him whom they have never heard?

And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet

 of those who preach the good news!’

But they have not all obeyed the gospel.  For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has

Believed what he has heard from us?’

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Romans 10:13-17

If I am focused on all of the negative aspects of life here, how am I to “preach” the good news?  And if I do not preach the good news, how are those who have not heard the good news to believe and call upon the name of the Lord?  Oh, how I have gone astray!  Oh, how I have grown numb to the intensity and urgency of my mission here because I have allowed the enemy to so cleverly fixate my energy and time on everything but God’s mission for me here!  But even in my constant rebellion and sinfulness He still chooses to pursue me and show me mercy.  He still chooses to speak to me, teach me, and demonstrate His unconditional love for me.  In the middle of all of this, God in His graciousness, made it possible for Rob to come visit me here.  This not only was what I thought to be virtually impossible, but it was also complete grace shown to me by my Heavenly Father.  Grace is a gift that you receive that is completely unmerited.  This gift was something I did nothing to deserve but God chose to give to me out of His own mercy and love.  Oh that we would remember His unlimited grace upon our lives when we are so consumed by the negative situations that we feel we are surrounded by!  

Many of you have emailed and messaged asking for details on Rob’s time here with me.  Let me first say thank you all for your love and sweet desires to hear how God blessed me through Rob’s visit!  You are all so dear to me and I am truly thankful for each and every one of you.  It is your encouragement, support and prayers that I feel the Holy Spirit uses to keep me afloat here.  There are days that I want to jump on the next available plane and high tail it back to America.  But then in God’s grace, I will receive an email or message of encouragement and/or prayers from you and the Holy Spirit will use that to refocus my mindset, sustain me and empower me to complete the mission to which He has called me to!  So thank you.  Thank you for your love, your kind words, your encouragement, your support, your faith in me, and most of all your prayers. 

My time here with Rob could not have been more perfect!  God is so, so GOOD!  I am still in awe of how He worked every detail of Rob getting here out so perfectly!  There were so many hurdles that had to be leapt over and rings of fire to be jumped through in order for his trip here to have happened.  I thank the Lord that what is impossible to man is possible to God!  His visit was an absolute blessing to me!  It could not have come at a more perfect time.  As most of you know, Rob is a man that fears God and seeks to glorify Him in everything he says and does.  He is constantly encouraging me, holding me accountable and challenging me in Christ.  So you can imagine the encouragement and wisdom that accompanied him to Dar!  He brought with him humble and wise counsel that I was in desperate need of.  He brought me joy and love that I was craving with all of my heart.  He brought me comfort and encouragement that my soul was thirsting after.  I praise God for His grace to give me that time with Rob!   Because his visit was so short we were very limited to what we could do.  I showed him around the best I could, and took him to see the Indian Ocean and to my favorite area of Dar.  I gave him a taste for public transportation here, the markets, and took him to my favorite places to eat.  But I think we would both agree that our sweetest time spent together here was the time we were able to spend at the primary school with the children and teachers that I have been investing in.  The children loved Rob!  They loved singing for him, showing off their knowledge of the Bible that they have learned, and having him lift them up into his strong arms as they giggled.  Rob was great with the children and loved on them and showed them Christ in a way that blessed me tremendously.  Watching him with them made my heart smile.  I am so incredibly blessed by his love for Christ first and his love for others that flows from that love for Jesus!  It was such a joy for God to connect my two worlds together.  Rob was able to see how I have been spending my time here and the ministry that God has entrusted me with, while the teachers and children were able to meet the man that I have talked so much about, shown them pictures of, and have the honor of spending the rest of my life with!  So even though his leaving me to go back to America was one of the most difficult good-bye’s I have ever experienced, I could not be more thankful for the time I had with him here in Africa and the lessons and wisdom that I gained through his visit!  God’s purpose for Rob’s time here turned out to be more than just reuniting two hearts together that were missing each other, but also to encourage and edify me in my mission and in what God has called me to Tanzania for!

Again, I apologize for the quality of the pictures… my precious mother has mailed my camera cords to me and they should arrive in the next couple of weeks so I promise to upload better pictures when they get here!  Until then, this is the best I can do. 

Prayer Requests:

•   Please continue to pray for my time with Anna and Nancy and the other female teachers that God has given me relationships with.  We are still meeting to study God’s Word and pray together.  I am believing that He will open their eyes and allow them to trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior!  Please continue to pray to that end with me.
•  Please pray for Andy, our Hands On (the program I have come through) Supervisor, that is traveling from Botswana to Tanzania to come visit us tomorrow.  Pray that God will give him travel mercies and give him wisdom as he comes to encourage and challenge us in our time here.
•  Please pray for team unity as we are all aware of the enemy’s goal to divide and destroy us and our ministry here.  May we remember to fight not against the flesh but against the spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12).
•  Please pray that I would be diligent in spending time in the Word and in prayer.  I know that apart from dependency on God’s Word, I will fall every day and not be able to combat the enemy’s schemes to destroy what God is doing in and through me here. 
•  Please pray for continued healing of my body and the stomach issues I have been encountering.  I still haven’t fully gotten to the bottom of what is causing this but pray that God would heal my body for His glory that I may proclaim His good news and be strong in my ministry here.   

 Sea Cliff

 Rob and me - the Indian Ocean

 Before church on Sunday 

 The children loving "brother Robin"

 Rob with Vero and Asha 

Dropping him off at the airport :(