Hope in His Promise

As I write this entry it is only 48 days until we leave home for Zambia. Linda and I know the hardest thing we will ever do is leave John and Sara. They are not children anymore, but they are our adult kids. We have the concerns all parents have for their children at this stage in life. Leaving parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts and life long friends is not something we are looking forward to either. But when you say "yes" to something, it often means saying "no" to many other things. When believers make the commitment to leave home and family for Him, Christ makes a promise. I referred a 16-year-old Zambian to this promise last summer. He was struggling with making a decision to follow Christ. He knew saying "yes" to the Lord would come at a high cost. He said his father would beat him and send him packing. I showed him what Jesus promised. It was this: "I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life" (Luke 18:29). I promised the young man who lives near Namwianga Mission that if his father rejected him I would be a father to him as well as would the other Christian men at the mission. Later that day he was baptized, said "yes" to Jesus. I'll keep you posted on that situation. Meanwhile, Linda and I will be looking to Jesus to fulfill this promise to us as we take our place in Zambia. We are going to take Him up on His promise to add to the family. Won't it be interesting to see how He does it? We will introduce you in the months to come to new brothers, sisters, parents, and children in Christ.

By the way, John and Sara are giving us up for a while. They have been mature about our decision to move to Zambia and have shown a Christ-like attitude. They have not once said, "Don't go." Many of you will be for them what we will long to be while away. We thank Christ for you in advance and marvel at the blessing that is the family of God.

Because the tomb is empty!
David