Can you hear me now?

Cellphone reception isn't always the greatest in Africa...


I haven't been a very faithful blog updater this year, which probably annoys me more than it does you. I liked to hear from people and keep them up to date, but don't get a whole lot of that when I don't update... so it's kinda a lose-lose situation. I hope to turn over a new leaf with that, but I'm not sure how realistic that's going to be. Especially in the next month or so. I'll be a tad 'distracted'... heh.

Things have been going well. I've got one last Hausa class tomorrow, then I'll be going to work until Julia comes. (woot!)

I've also added a handy-dandy link list to the side of my blog ===>
It's got all my Facebook pictures from Africa (last year and this) plus a few others. I didn't include any concerts or the like... Would've been a long list. Rather than posting the links here IN the blog, I'll post them there and mention in my blog when I've posted a new album. That way, if you ever missed a post or feel like looking back, you can! How lucky of you!

Right now I'm reading a book called The Heavenly Man which, according to the front cover, is "the remarkable true story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun".

'Remarkable' is an understatement.

This man has gone through SO much. Prison, beatings, prison again and again, more beatings, friends martyred, persecuted, family imprisoned, family persecuted... It's incredible. A man of incredible faith. It really makes me see how God takes care of those who fully put their trust in him. Which seems an odd thing to say after listing off many of the things he's suffered. One chapter chronicles his incredible escape from prison and later from China. I can't even summarize it properly. He listened to God and didn't hesitate. Because of that he was able to literally just walk out of the prison. (Walk after being crippled, mind you!)

I pray for such faith. To ignore my 'conscience'/the Devils prompting and follow God's commands. To daily pick up my cross for Him. Often we pass up suffering and reason our way out of it.

"Why would God ever want me to suffer?"
"If doing such-and-such were to kill me, what's the point? I could do so much more if I was alive."

I find myself often using excuses like this. The last one I think is used by me and others to reason with ourselves as to why 'God wouldn't want' us to go through with it. One thing I've been realizing a lot of lately is how God brings His people out of incredible situations. If you believe and follow Him, God will lift you out of what you thought was a dead-end. Often in ways you never would've thought possible. I wonder how many Israelites wondered as they walked towards the Dead Sea with Pharaoh and his army behind them: "I bet God's just going to move all the water out of the way so we can just stroll across". They were running into death (by man's reasoning) and God let them walk to safety. This happens throughout the Bible repeatedly. And it doesn't stop. Brother Yun is an modern example.

Prosperity preachers are common in Nigeria, but their teachings reach the West as well. I regularly hear of 'sermons' about how God is essentially just waiting to give you loads of money and riches. I guess we just take that backwards sometimes. The West HAS loads of money and riches, therefore God has blessed us. Right? I dunno. Sometimes I see the wealth of the West as less of a blessing from God and more of an enticement into a smug life by Satan. Here I daily see blind men being led around by children, cripples dragging their legs as they pull themselves around by their hands, elderly women asking for food, children holding out bowls and begging... I see all this, and I remember those who are thankful for all that God has blessed them with. I'd still say that wealth is a blessing from God, but Satan twists it to his favour. Having thanks isn't just enough. I'm guilty of this as well, don't think I'm preaching. Working in Toronto for a while got me into the habit of ignoring beggars and I often do the same here. I still don't like handing out money, however. Not because I feel I 'deserve' the money more than someone else, I know God's given me every cent He has to use for His glory. But because I don't know enough about how the money will be used. I'd often have used that as an excuse to not give out ANYthing. "He's just going to buy booze." But my way around it now is to buy a big box of packaged cookies and keep them in my car to hand out to the kids when I can. I'll let you know how this pans out...