February 2006
Dear Friends,
Thanks so much for praying for us and all the other missionaries
for whom you pray. We need the prayer. I can see progress with
the French: this method of learning by doing (I’m teaching
three courses in French) is definitely forcing me to learn the
language! When students catch on to what I am teaching, it is
exhilarating. And of course, when they catch my excitement and
realize that learning is really happening, then the place goes
nuts. It really is an interesting way to watch Jesus’ joy
in Luke 10:17 ff. and you realize you are definitely one of the
babies He is pleased to use.
The incarnation lesson in my systematic theology class was a
challenging class to teach, and then I told my students a story
from one of my trips to Uganda. There is a boys school where one
day a little boy had fallen into a latrine, a narrow hole 75 feet
down. He was crying pitifully with terror and a crowd gathered
quickly. The headmaster was too large to fit into the narrow pit,
and he asked for a volunteer. Everyone was repulsed by even the
idea of such a thing, and no one stepped forward.
But the headmaster’s son did, and they tied a rope around
his chest and lowered him down into the pit. Hugging the little
fellow with all of his strength, he urged the people up top to
pull them out with the rope. After the lesson we had a time for
questions and answers. Zita, a very sharp student, raised his
hand and politely asked, “Sir, why did you tell that story?”
I answered that it was an illustration of the incarnation, and
I expressed some confidence that it was helpful for them to grasp
the significance of the doctrine of the incarnation. Zita gave
me a puzzled look and, looking quickly around the room with some
anxiety (students fear ridicule from the fellow students—we’re
working on that), he asked, “But where is Jesus in the story?
Is he the little boy who fell into the hole?”
With a mind racing and a silent prayer for help for this student
teacher (me), I threw the same question out to the class. Dead
silence. It was painfully obvious that no one had understood my
illustration, and it wasn’t all because of my French. So
I asked the class, “Who is down in that pit? Just who is
that little boy crying in that filthy dark place?”
It was deathly quiet in that classroom, the kind of quiet that
tempts rookie teachers to go out and hang themselves.
I came back to Zita, who after four months of being my student
has learned to trust me. I asked the question one more time, “Who
is that little boy in that hole?”
“It’s you Zita! You are that little boy who fell
in, only you did not fall, you jumped into that hole.” We
had to unpack that a bit as we discussed the problem of our sin,
but when the class had figured out that the headmaster was God
the Father, they were off and running. Suddenly, all of the class,
almost in unison yelled out, “Then Jesus is the One who
volunteered to go down into that stinking pit to rescue the little
guy!” And everybody began to look around at their fellow
students with big smiles and the look on their faces that said,
“Sure! Of course! Now you get it!”
Then Zita said with a very confident voice, “Yes, Jesus
is the One who volunteered to rescue me!” I was sure then
that the director general was going to come charging down to our
class by now, as the guys were up on their chairs and hollering
and banging on their desks with real Congo rhythm. But later,
the director told me with a huge smile, “I love to hear
that sound come from your class. When I hear that sound I know
the Lord is there helping teacher and students to connect with
God’s Word. I am so happy inside to hear that the Lord is
helping train the future leaders of our beloved church. And you
know, Mwambi (the term for “teacher”) the Lord is
answering our prayers for you—you are learning French!”
We are at the six-month point in our work here. It’s that
time when a lot of rookie missionaries ask, “Now who did
I tell that we’re going to stay here, and for how long did
I say we would stay?” We are so grateful to be here. Thank
you for being a part of how the Lord brought us here, and please
continue to be the praying part so the Lord will keep us here.
We are planning to be at Clemson University in May to see our
son Jim get his commission into the U.S. Air Force and graduate
the next day. Thank you so much for the backup for our Colleen
at Erskine College. She is loving it and just informed us of her
making the dean’s List. You would be very proud of our three
kids who are out here with us. All three made the honor roll at
the American School. And the Mama? With all these changes in our
lifestyle out here, Val keeps on keeping on. Not a complainer,
Val amazes me with her cheerful spirit as she handles the challenges
in front of us all.
Val and Walt
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 317
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