Long But Worth It

The main purpose of my walks home has always been to establish relationships along the way that God might use to bring people to Christ…if not through me during my time in Ghana, then perhaps through a future contact with another Christian. The efforts to learn the language and converse with the people, the miles through the heat – yes, there’s a side benefit of exercise, but the main motivation is to reach people for Christ.

“Jason” met me on my second walk through town. Right from the start he has been an intense fellow – reaching out to shake my hand and then holding it tightly while looking fixedly into my eyes and earnestly saying such cheerful things as “Leah, you shouldn’t make too many friends in this town; be careful.” He wasn’t giving me any advice that he doesn’t follow himself, as he tends to be a very guarded fellow. While most men in town will introduce themselves and quickly follow up with “Are you married? Will you marry me?” it was some weeks into our acquaintance that he asked, “By the way, Leah, are you married?” He accepted my “No” thoughtfully and didn’t give any immediate feedback.

Around this time Abba told me that I can always ask a man why he wants to be my friend; and getting a bit weary of Jason’s intensity that always seemed to be dancing around an issue and never arriving, I determined that next time I would put the question to him. God’s timing is so good, because the very next day I walked up with this question in mind, and he casually mentioned, “Oh, by the way, did you know that ‘Amos’ is my brother?” That stopped me in my tracks: if he was my fellow-Christian’s brother, I certainly couldn’t try to end the acquaintance. “Lord, You are somehow at work in Jason’s life – help me to discern the part I need to play.”

This past Monday Jason and Amos came by the office I share with a fellow American, Mr. Joe. Amos announced that it was Jason’s birthday, and then in front of his brother stated that it was very important that we pray for Jason and try to help him become a Christian. After Jason left, Amos turned to me with his brother’s earnestness and urged, “Please do everything you can to help him become a Christian. He likes you, Leah.” All I could do was pray, because helping someone go from liking me to liking my Savior involves a change of heart that only God can bring about!

That evening I walked home again, and this time as I passed Jason, he joined me and accompanied me for half a mile or more. He kept saying things like “Leah, I told my brother I will come to church, but I said that only because of you” – and that’s one of his less pointed comments. God was continually gracious, because every time Jason said something like this, we passed someone I was able to greet in the local tongue, breaking the flow of conversation; I would turn back to Jason and somehow be able to turn the talk to spiritual things.

We passed a sign with the words “Born Again,” and I pointed it out to Jason. “Today is your physical birthday; but I want you to know that my prayer for you is that before I leave Ghana, I will celebrate your spiritual birth.” He’d never heard the phrase before, and I gave him a very thorough explanation. At last he took leave, but held my hand as always, looked at me intensely as always, and said, “Leah, we have very important matters to discuss about ourselves. I will come and see you tomorrow.”

To be continued….