The Hungry Ones...

The last 2 weeks, our team has been getting settled in here at the Iris base. Since this is an orphanage, you can imagine that there are a lot of different things that need to be done. Before we came, as we prayed about helping Iris, the Lord highlighted the fact that we were to serve them wholeheartedly while we were here. Desiring to be completely obedient, we have been committed to just that. Now I like the preaching of the Gospel, seeing salvations, healings, miracles, etc, but that isn’t all that goes on here. There are 100’s of little mouths to feed, kids to watch after, food to buy, gardens to plant, classes to teach, etc. On a daily basis, this Iris base feeds over 1000 children and around 400 workers and missionaries. Their staff ranges from women that care for the children to guards that man the gates round the clock, and many others. There are also 20+ full time missionaries that live on or around the base. So much goes into the daily “in’s and out’s” of a full time orphanage.

As a team, we have all decided where we wanted to serve and have been going to those jobs daily. Personally, I decided to go help in the kitchen. I don’t know what it is about kitchens, but I haven’t seemed to be able to get away from them. I think the Lord is really trying to show me how to find joy in the everyday tasks that we do. Brother Lawrence, an old Gregorian monk from the 1600s, is known for having a very intimate relationship with the Lord. A collection of his writings called “Practicing the Presence” tells of how he learned to practice the presence of the Lord in his everyday activities. He writes, “"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it." I was defiantly inspired by his words and his stories, and have been willing to put them to the test. Each day I have to give the kitchen workers the food to cook, oversee their work, and go buy the supplies for the week. So I have been determined to find Him there.

Bright and early, I meet the workers to get ready for the day. We sing worship songs, pray, and greet each person individually. This is a great time of the day for me. Even though I’m not fluent in their language, we laugh, dance, and really bond during this time. After we pray, I take them into the storage room and give them the supplies to cook for the day. Since you are feeding over 1000 people a day, for lunch and supper, this takes quite a while. It usually takes over 100 pounds of beans, twelve 15lb. bags of rice, and a few other ingredients. After I get them set up for the day, I have to go to town to buy other food for the week. I usually have to go to the market, and other little stores along the way. There really isn’t one store that has it all, which makes it quite an adventure. After town, I usually have to be back on the base to receive our larger orders. The bigger stuff we need, like beans, rice, etc., comes by truck. Some may say, “Sounds like a pretty boring job to get stuck with, why did you go all the way to Africa for that?” My answer to them would be simple. Sometimes the Lord cares so much about you that He will move you all the way across the world to teach you something. It’s hard to learn to be poor in Spirit in the midst of the materialism that is in the western world, or the rest of the world for that matter. It’s easy to say that we don’t love our nice cars, houses, food preferences, etc until they are stripped from you. Jesus declared in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” I don’t know about you, but I want the revelation of Heaven now, so I long to be poor in Spirit. Being poor in Spirit is a frame of mind, and desiring “stuff” easily clutters our ability to grasp this revelation. This self-emptying conviction, that “before God we are void of everything,” lies at the foundation of all spiritual excellence, according to the teaching of Scripture. Without it we are inaccessible to the riches of Christ; with it we are in the right position for receiving all spiritual supplies.

Grasping this TRUTH means that we can have the Kingdom now, and we don’t have to wait. The said in John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” I want to know Him, way more than having my stuff. And this experience has made me realize how much comfort I found in some of my stuff. I can honestly say that I’ve never been happier or more fulfilled than now. I would be satisfied with living in a tent for the rest of my life, as long as I had the Holy Spirit and His presence. To clarify, I’m not saying that I have completely arrived to being poor in Spirit, but I’m closer than ever. Its amazing the realm of Heaven that opens up when you only have Him to run to.

The other night, I went outside and looked up at the stars. I don’t know if you have ever experienced it, but the stars in Africa are different. There are no bright lights that are dulling God’s creation, and the picture of the sky that is painted is unbelievable. As I gazed to the sky, I started to cry. I felt the presence of God, and I heard the Spirit whisper, “I love you.” I immediately cried out to Him for more of His love. Although I know that I am closer to God than ever, I am hungrier than ever. This makes you feel like you are so far away from Him. Misty Edwards puts this feeling in to words way better than I could. She sings:

Though I sleep,
My heart is awake
Though it's night, on You I wait

It's been a long night,
And I am weary
It's been a long time,
And I am hungry

So I'll wait in the stillness again
I'll wait in the quiet again

When I heard Your voice
When You said my name
When I heard Your voice
My heart it yearned

In the middle of the night
In the middle of the night
In the middle of the night
My heart it yearns

Though You're far away,
Still I'm here to say
I am Yours, I am Yours
And when You feel so far away,
Still I am here to say:

I am Yours, I am Yours

And I pay my vows,
No turning around
I'll burn the bridges that can't be found

For when I heard Your voice
And You said my name
When I heard Your voice
My heart it yearned…
For You…

I would be willing to bet that most of you are in the same boat. Those that are hungry can be comforted by Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” The Lord isn’t at all surprised by this hunger that we have. The reality is that He is the cause of it all. He wants us to seek Him. The hunger that we have for Him is the substance and the evidence of His hunger and love for us, and as we press in we discover more of Him. Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of Kings.” The Lord hides His glory, and the hungry will seek it out. Those that want more will NEVER give up, they refuse to be denied, the hungry ones.

This hunger has been shared by many of those that have sought the Lord. In Psalm 27:8 King David wrote, “"When You said, Seek my face; my heart said to You, Your face, LORD, I WILL seek." The Lord is saying the same thing to you today. Seek my face, and you WILL receive. This invitation is inviting you into the depths of His Kingdom explained above. Mike Bickle explains that Lord is saying, "I’m drawing you, you are restless, you are restless for me. Don't drink from other water! It’s Me you are hungry for; it’s Me you are thirsty for. I created you to thirst for Me! Your thirst was created so you would come for Me! Its the evidence of My desire for you!" So be encouraged! And press in to the Lord; He has a world of things to reveal to you. No one who waits on the Lord will be ashamed, or disappointed. Get what He has for you!