Faith-Grown

These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 [NASB]

After you have lived a while, you realize our greatest opportunities of growth and learning come through our experiences. If we read and learn, the lesson becomes head knowledge. Only when head knowledge is tested, can it become life knowledge and grow and strengthen us.

James expressed this same thing in James 1:2-3 when he said, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” [NASB] Paul taught similarly in Romans 5:3-5 when he said,

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. [NASB]

These disciples of Jesus taught going through hard times produces growth, or rather, it can, depending on how we respond and react to the difficulties.

Jesus taught much about growing in a relationship with God and told His followers how they can endure hardships. In John 16:33, He spent some time walking with and teaching His disciples before Judas betrayed Him. He told them, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation but take courage; I have overcome the world.” Jesus’ primary teaching about living through difficulties was to ask the Father for anything in His name (vs 23). Jesus’ followers can have peace, God’s heart peace, while facing difficulties because God will be with them and will help them. God doesn’t leave a person when times get tough. He stays with them, gives them the strength to get through trials, and grows the person to be a stronger believer in Jesus Christ. As a person takes each small step toward growing more Christlike, that person’s belief in God and His desire and ability to strengthen him or her in and through the trial grows. That person becomes stronger.

Consider Matthew 19:16-26 when the rich young ruler asked Jesus a question. This rich young man asked Jesus, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” (vs. 16) Jesus answered him by saying, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” (vs. 17) The man’s reply to Jesus was he had kept all the commandments. Then he asked, “What am I still lacking?” (vs. 20b) This rich young man thought doing good would give him eternal life. Jesus told him only One is good. He told the young man, if he wanted to be complete (fully grown as can only happen by God), not just good, then he must not rely on what he can do such as making money and buying himself things. The completeness of which Jesus spoke can come only by God when He makes a person fully grown through stages. These stages of gradual strengthening take a person to the end goal of being completely Christlike. This strengthening comes through trials and difficulties, daily Bible reading and study, and prayer and communion with God. The rich young man chose not to go through this trial. He kept the commandments instead of giving himself to God. We can note this from his reply to Jesus. Recall what Jesus told this rich young man after he said he kept the commandments. Jesus said, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.” (vs. 21) He, in essence, said stop relying on your own strength and plans, and rely on God instead. Give yourself to God totally and trust in Him. This rich young ruler heard Jesus’ statement, but went away grieving because he owned a lot of property. He didn’t want to give it up. This rich young ruler chose to rely on himself rather than follow God and trust Him for all his needs.

This moment in time was the rich young ruler’s chance to grow in his relationship with God. He could have gone from knowing about sins and Yahweh God to knowing God and being in a redeemed relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. This young man did not trust God to provide all things for him and so he did not grow in his faith. He wanted to be a follower of Jesus, but he didn’t rely on God’s strength and provision or his own learned understanding of I AM, the eternal One. At that moment in time, the rich young ruler could have come to know God personally through His Son, Jesus. He chose possessions over a relationship with God.

We each come to these places in our lives. Will we trust the God who created us and all things to take care of our needs? Will we trust Him enough to give us the strength to endure when we obey Him to go where He tells us to or do what He tells us to do? Will we believe what Jesus told Paul? In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul wrote saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”

Jesus gave the rich young ruler the opportunity to grow in his understanding of God and his relationship to Him. He encouraged him to step out in faith in God. Jesus gives each of us the opportunity to grow in our understanding and faith in God and to become more like Him. Each day we learn something and have the chance to trust God more, and to gain strength, endurance, and peace. Only you recognize what God is trying to teach you now. You understand of what God asks from you to learn that lesson fully and become even more like Christ.

Will you let go of your own understanding and grow in God?

Will you be home-grown or faith-grown?

Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ And He said, ‘Come!’ And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. (Matthew 14:28-29 [NASB])

Lord, You have been patient with me. I don’t understand how you have that much patience waiting on me to trust you, but You do. You love me more than I realized. You are loving and gracious and keep calling me to follow You. Please forgive my doubts and lack of faith. Forgive my weaknesses and fears. Help me see and hear You only. Help me step out of my self-made boat and walk on the storm-tossed sea with You. Only by walking with You will I grow stronger. Lord, I want to be made complete and to have Your peace. I don’t want to be home-grown anymore. I want to be faith-grown by You. Please be patient with me. I love You.

In Their Words

What colors and sounds come to mind when you think of fleeing your country in fear and desperation? Are brilliant yellows and glorious greens in your mind’s eye showing you sunny days and prosperity? Do lilting laughter and babbling birds tickle your mind’s ear? Perhaps your mind sees black, gray, and brown making you think of destruction, despair, and decay? Possibly crying and wailing resound like a percussive peal of bells in your mind’s ear from death by starvation or gun fire.

The latter are not the sounds or colors most people hear daily. They are unfathomable to millions of people. People of the world cannot imagine living through these daily cries of horror, pain, and desolation. They cannot comprehend this myriad of mental and physical assaults each day. Still, 20+ million people daily experience this life.

The life of refugees and asylum-seekers occurs because of conflict and environmental disaster. Conflict most often is politically based. It arises from prejudice, greed, selfishness, hatred, and fear. Environmental disasters such as earthquakes, droughts, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, and fires cause people to leave their homes and countries, too. For people who exist in these situations, no end to despair seems to exist. With nothing to lose, they flee within moments, days, or weeks of the conflict or natural disaster. Often, they leave with only the clothes they wear, thinking primarily of saving their lives.

These stories do not arise only from one region of the world. They come from around the globe. The media in first-world countries portray most refugees coming from war-torn areas in the Middle-East and in north Africa where religious or political strife causes fear, persecution, and death. Refugees and asylum-seekers come from around the world. After the hurricane in Puerto Rico, the floods in Bangladesh, the tsunami in Indonesia, and other places where catastrophes occurred, people left destitute and un-aided sought rest and help in other countries. They hoped one day to go home.

The stories below form the first of several articles in this series that will reveal to us daily experiences of refugees and asylum-seekers. Refugees wrote their stories in answer to three questions. The names used are pseudonyms to protect the refugees. This interviewer only made grammatical changes to their written answers. The refugees in this article are from central African nations. Three questions were asked of each refugee and asylum-seeker. They were as follows.

1.      What was life like in your home country?

2.      What made you decide to leave your country?

3.      What has life been like in your host/adopted country?

Interviews

Jean Baptiste

Question 1: What was life like in your home country?

Life in Burundi was good before 1993, but after that became worse because of the war.

Question 2: What made you decide to leave your country?

In 2004, I started university studying electrical engineering. By the time I was into my second year there, the rebels came to my school and were forcing everyone to follow them and join the army. I left Burundi and went to Tanzania where I lived in the bush without spare clothes and food. By God’s grace, I managed to communicate with a Tanzanian person and explained to him where and how I was suffering in the bush. He helped me a lot to escape the army by hiding me in his and friends’ houses. They told me someone could take me to Malawi where I could get a small job.

I left Tanzania with no government papers. They helped me cross the border. It was not easy for me in Malawi. Communication was difficult. I sold water and peanuts for food. By God’s mercy, I managed to get a small amount of money. I was living on the street. I met some guys who were going to Mozambique, and I decided to follow them. Mozambique was worse for me because of the Portuguese language.

Question 3: What has life been like in your host/adopted country?

In 2007, I moved to South Africa. I was sleeping under the bridge for three months in the cold. To survive, I begged on the trains. I managed to get a job as a car guard and I was happy to get a small bit of money. [A car guard is an informal guard that sometimes receives tips from the car owners while they shop.] From there I started to communicate with my parents via letters. In their minds, they thought I was no longer on this earth. I did an electrical course and got married. God blessed me with 3 kids. I have a family and friends. I have spiritual parents who are local Baptist missionaries. I am a servant of God as a pastor for other people from Burundi at a Methodist church. I don’t have a job that pays and life has been hard physically and spiritually. I struggle to get government papers from home affairs, first refugee status then work permit. That is the thing that makes me worry most in South Africa. Without papers, I cannot work a regular job.

Alleyah

Question 1: What was life like in your home country?

In my country of Burundi, my life was wonderful. I was a student at university majoring in economics, but after that the war started and everything was ruined.

Question 2: What made you decide to leave your country?

I decided to leave my country because there was no peace. People killed each other because of insecurity. After my brother was killed, I decided to leave my country.

 

Question 3: What has life been like in your host/adopted country?

Oooh, my life here in South Africa is very, very difficult. I have no job. To get a job is a very difficult thing. Sometimes if you get a job, they pay you a small amount because you are a foreigner. Some companies don’t want to hire foreigners so that makes it difficult to get money for rent and food. It is difficult to get the government documents so we can stay here legally and work. Because of these things, we have so many problems here in South Africa.

Pierre

Question 1: What was life like in your home country?

Life is difficult in my home country. Something which makes life very difficult in my home country is poverty. It is not easy to get a job because there are not enough companies where many people can get a job. Even when you get a job, the money you get per day is not enough for all you need. Per day, they pay $1. Imagine if you have a family, how you will be able to feed your family with $1 a day.

Another thing that makes life very difficult is insecurity. Since 1993, there has been no peace in our country because of war. All presidents want to reign many years. That makes the political opposers (rebels) fight to chase away a president who doesn’t want to share the power with others.

The country's economic problems come down to these problems-poverty, insecurity, and war. It's why so many people flee from our country to South Africa where they think life might be very good.

Question 2: What made you decide to leave your country?

In 1994, I left my home country to go to Tanzania, my neighbor country, where I spent fifteen years as a refugee because of war. I started studying in primary school and finished secondary school where I got my degree.

Life was not good because I could have no job in the refugee camp. We were not even allowed to go out of camp to search for something to eat. Although the situation was not good in my home country, I decided to go back home with my brother.

When I returned home in 2009, I got a job in the government because UNHCR (United Nations High Council on Refugees) helped the refugees who repatriated to their country. To get a job in my home country, you have to be a member of the political party that is in power. They forced me to support them but I refused because I remembered what happened in the 1993 war when ten people in my family died because they were in a political party.

After four years back there, I was teaching and they (the president’s supporters) told me to join in their political party in order to make all people love and support their party. It was the president's second round. I refused again to join their party. What happened? They sent five policemen in the night to catch me at me home and they hid me for seven days in an unknown place. My family weren’t happy and went out to search for me, but they didn't find me. The policemen hit me and did anything they wanted.

After seven days, they took me to court and accused me of having five guns in my house. They said I trained people to fight against the government. Immediately, they took me to jail where I stayed imprisoned for seven months. When they called me to court three times, I explained what happened to me and how they did violence to me. The judges listened to me and decided to release me from jail. The government allowed me to continue my daily job with no problem. I continued my job as well as I did before.

Unfortunately, I received three letters warning me to stop teaching otherwise they would cut my head off. I didn't stop teaching. After that, I heard men knock on the door during the night. They wanted to kill me so I opened my back window silently and ran away. I walked all night climbing up the highland to save my life. I passed through Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. That’s why I am now in South Africa.

Question 3: What has life been like in your host/adopted country?

My life was not good in my adopted/host country. One year ago, I spent six months without a job. I was not able to pay rent or get money to buy food. I was asking help from everybody, especially Christians in the church, so I could survive.

Another problem I was I was not able to speak English. That means my communication with the citizens of this country was not good. Because of what happened to me in my home country-the violence done to me, I am not able to do hard, physical jobs because my health is not good. I work temporary, part-time to keep my life/health good. Even when I get a job, I only get enough money to pay rent. Sometimes I don’t have money to pay rent and buy food because I am not permanently employed. I am worried about my future!

Conclusion

These refugee stories come from people who fled two countries. They come from at least two different faith backgrounds. Persecution does not occur against only one faith system. Prejudice abounds. In these three stories, each of the people-men and woman-stated war, political corruption, greed, and fear were the motivators for leaving their home countries. They loved their home nations. Each of these refugees/asylum-seekers was in a university or planned to attend one. They were intelligent, contributing members of society, yet they were persecuted.

Race, religion, and intelligence did not define who would experience persecution in these people’s circumstances. Fear by one political group of another caused persecution in these three lives and the lives of their families. Jean Baptiste, Alleyah, and Pierre want to return to their home countries, but for now they cannot. Fear of persecution and death by the reigning political party cautions their decision-making.

How should we respond to these three people and others like them who fled their countries to protect their lives? How do many people respond to them? We must remember, refugees and asylum-seekers are not a “them.” They are “us”, humans seeking safety for them and their families, hope for the future, peace, and a chance to contribute positively in the world. Refugees, generally, are not a threat, but a people needing help because of horrific circumstances before and appalling situations afterwards. What we do when they seek to preserve their lives determines what most defines us. Will we be compassionate or merciless while striving for our own self-interests? Our self-interests should be united with our care of all people. When we do not care, we withhold and suppress one of the greatest parts of who we are, a part of what makes us human and not an animal. Compassion, care, mercy, and love comprise the greatest part of our human-ness.

When a person or people group faces mass conflict that seeks to destroy lives for personal gain, prejudice, or power, people should respond by giving assistance and relief. When natural disasters cause people to face starvation, thirst, disease, and exposure to severe weather elements, humanity should respond with compassion, mercy, and love in tangible ways. Instead of these catastrophic experiences dividing humanity into “us” and “them,” it should cause a greater bond to occur and create a “we” who unite for our brothers and sisters. Whether you are Christian or follow another faith system, we each understand these words written by Paul. What he said is written in our beings; we each seek love and relationship. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, & 13 [NASB],

Love is patient.

Love is kind and is not jealous.

Love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly.

It does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three, but the greatest of these is love.