Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Life Changing Update

    
       The Carib people have a phrase, “A pot toe Papa, ee sha no wa toe o nay pung.” Translated it means, “God is like breeze. He is Spirit.” We are told it is hard for them to understand the concept of God because they do not understand spirit. John 3:8 says, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” I think if we are honest with ourselves we would all say we often struggle to understand God. His ways are so much higher than ours and His thoughts are vastly beyond our understanding. Take this journey Lindsey and I are on here in Guyana. In the past three months God has used us to lead a very sick and dear woman to salvation just weeks before she would go to meet her Maker. We have been training a village pastor how to go visiting and how to hold services. Even this past week we were privileged to walk a young lady through the waters of Baptism. To think that God has chosen us to go about His plan is mind blowing. That the Creator of the universe would call us to take the Gospel to the Carib people is amazing! And then at the same time, after just three months, to have God call us back to the States has been equally curious, yet Spirit led.

       While Lindsey and I have been living in a small area called Canal Bank, we have been working about an hour away in a village called Falls Top. Making the trip to Falls Top has been quite an adventure. We have been hitchhiking a ride on the back of a truck. We then travel at speeds of up to 60kph on muddy roads, while sitting on barrels of gasoline holding on for dear life. I find this rather exhilarating, yet at the same time my prayer life has been strengthened! Another challenge we have faced while here is learning to speak the Carib language. We have a wonderful teacher named Alan, who has really done great teaching us. However, because he has to travel an hour by river to get to our meeting point, he is only able to meet us on Saturday and Sunday. So when we are supposed to be working 30 hours a week on language we are struggling to get 15 hours. Over the past month, Lindsey and I have sat down with missionaries here in Guyana and with our supervisors from Wycliffe. We have been talking about what would have to happen for our OneStory project to be completed in the 3 year time frame. We arrived at the answer, the missionaries would have to live in the village of Falls Top. In this way they would not have to travel as much and they could find other language teachers to supplement their learning.


         While living in a swamp in the rain forest has proven to be difficult, the isolation of Falls Top would be even more challenging. The Bible teaches in 1 Cor. 12, that the body of Christ has many parts and those parts have been gifted differently and specifically. Through many prayers, tears, and trials, Lindsey and I have come to the place where we know living in Falls Top is beyond what God has gifted us for. Now we believe that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength, but at the same time the Spirit's gifting is specific to His calling. God has called us to “go,” but whether we understand it or not He has not led us go to Falls Top to live but to come back to the States.

       So do we understand everything God is doing? Not at all. Have we failed God, Wycliffe or even you our family? Not at all. Is God turning His back on the Carib people? Not at all. Is God finished with Lindsey and me? Not at all. We may not understand everything but God sees the whole picture! We are working with Wycliffe to revamp the Carib OneStory project so the next team in will be ready to go. We are also working with Wycliffe to see what God's next step is for Lindsey and me.

       Honestly, this is an uncertain time for us, and even somewhat disappointing because this is not how “we planned” our next three years—but then again, “A pot toe Papa, ee sha no wa toe o nay pung.” God is like the breeze! We may not understand Him, but He calls us to obey and He promises He is always with us!

       We ask for your continued prayer and support while God is revealing His plan. We will be working with Wycliffe to update you about a timeline of events, and what the next step for us and you as supporters should be. We expect to be back in the States on November 11th. Thank you so much for your love and encouragement!

In His Grace,

Jason & Lindsey Lawson



1 comment:

  1. Praying for you guys this morning. Your faithful dedication to follow His lead is encouraging. Grace & peace to you and also welcome back to the states!

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