Courage

The Group in Caldas Novas

Please note that this is a fictional narrative based upon a true story of someone who answered the call to make disciples.   

           “Where did you go to high school?”

This question, although very much cliché, stirred something deep inside of her.   Her fingers fidgeted as eye contact was broken to unnecessarily adjust her hijab, the traditional head covering worn by Muslim women. 

Answering it would be a window into her worldview.  It could break boundaries, walls, and relationships.  The redemption she presently experienced and accepted would become audible to all, or at least the three other girls eating shawarma at the four-legged lunch table.  Her answer would reveal the difference between her family’s religious heritage and her presently abiding in Christ. 

What would they think of her?  Has she forsaken her culture?  Abandoned our god? 

These thoughts raced faster than her heart could follow, but the love that He had shown for her was far greater than her present fear. 

Lydia aka "Rute" ("Hoochie" in Portuguese), Raquel, and I

Despite the beads of sweat building up in her underarms, the sentence slid from her lips,

“I went to Magadonia International School.”   

“You lived in Magadonia?” inquired the hazel-eyed, slender college student seated adjacently of her. 

“Yes. I lived there for four years while my father was working for the embassy.”

“Wow!  What was it like?”

Hesitating.  She knew that the more she told, the more they would ask.  The surface questions about Magadonia were always easy to answer, especially the ones that were not open-ended.  Yet, today was different.  These girls genuinely desired to vicariously live through her past and understand why their friend, who appeared Muslim by clothes and culture, saw the world through a different lens; one of love, grace, and compassion. 

“Magadonia was a very cool place to live.  I lived in the capital, which is pretty near the center of Magadonia.  The climate was always rainy or dry, because those were the only seasons.”

“But, what about your school?  You said it was an international school.  What was that like?”

“It was a small, Christian school, with no more than 100 students from age 3 to 19, but that was what also made it unique.  It was like a family.  There weren’t many Magadonians attending the school, and most of us were from other countries.  So, it was cool to share the similar feeling of “not fitting in” in Magadonia with many other students that “didn’t” either. 

            “It was a Christian school?  What does that mean?”

“Well, everything was taught in English, and we had normal classes like math, history, computer, science, and all that, but we also had chapel once a week and Bible class everyday.  All of the teachers and staff at the school were Christians.”

We found this beautiful lizard in the pool.

At this point in the conversation, when most would disengage, especially in a country predominantly made up of non-Christians, her friends only became more engrossed and absorbed in her every word and continued to pick and probe at her findings.

“Wait.  What kinds of things did you learn about Christianity?” one asked.

“What did your parents think?” the other interrupted.

“And, did you believe it?” she asked.  Her arms unfolded, and her hands lifted, illuminating the reddish-brown henna chasing itself up her fingers like vines on a fencepost.  

She began, “At first, I didn’t know what to think.  The God that I was taught about from the Bible was a God that created everything.  He was like a King.  Whatever He said happened.  His words were powerful.  They were of love and justice.  He created man in His image and told them to fill the earth and subdue it, to be like sub-kings over the world He had just created.  However, instead of ruling over God’s creation, man was tempted by a serpent, and desiring to become like God, they disobeyed their creator.”

“So, what happened to them?”

 “Again, the God that they taught about was a God of love, but also a righteous God of justice.  He gave them the curses of sin.  At this point, pain and death entered into the scene and man was separated from God, and kicked out of God’s presence.  Yet, in the same dialogue of cursing man, He offered hope.  He promised that one day, one of the descendents of Adam, would crush the head of the serpent, leaving him powerless, and defeated.  By doing this the creation that was under the curses of sin, could be restored. ”

“Did the descendent ever come?”

“That’s the main part of the story that we were taught day in and day out.  To some it probably got old hearing it everyday, but to me, it just made me more curious.  The character of their God amazed me.  He desired to have relationship with His creation, and even when His creation disobeyed Him, He wanted to redeem them.  So, He did.  He went to earth, fully God and fully man.  He taught about His kingdom, a kingdom of light that had already arrived with His coming to earth, but also one that was not yet fully here, a kingdom in which there would be no more darkness.”

The green in the friend’s wide-eyes burst open, as if every speck of darkness inside of her was fleeing at the mention of this kind of love. 

            She said, “What else did he do?”  

“He had power over creation.  This guy could stop storms.  He had had power over all of the curses brought upon creation when man sinned in the beginning.” 

The words flowed out of her mouth with ease, packed with passion and enthusiasm.  And, the girls continued to cling to her every word.

“When sick people came to Him, He would touch them and instead of infecting Him with the illness, the sick were made clean.  He could bring the dead back to life, and He did.  He could heal blindness.  You know how He did it?” She asked with a smirk.

“How?”

“With His spit.”

One of Cacau's cute puppies

All of the girls giggled. 

Without even a hint of awkward silence, the girls nodded expectantly, clearly meaning to continue.  While brushing her long, black braid behind her shoulders, she resumed.

“He could rebuke the powers of the kingdom of darkness and cast out demons.  He told men to repent from their sins, turn from their evil ways and follow Him.  There were some that did, but many that refused.  Later, Jesus, the Son of Man, who knew no sin, was killed as a criminal: beaten, bruised, stabbed, and crucified.”

            “So, that’s it?  He died?” 

“What? How can he die?”

“How can he keep his promise of restoring creation if he is dead?”

“That’s actually the best part of the story.  Yes, He did die.  He was even wrapped and buried in a tomb.  But, remember?  He had power over pain and death.  He beat it.  After three days, Jesus came back to life.” 

This story was real.  It was not some childhood fairytale, or a fancy allegory in which the she had to find the “real” meaning.  It was truth.  She saw the world through these eyes.  She had been bought through the blood of this God-Man, and was now a new creation.  How could she not share it with her friends? 

“But, how do you know it’s true?” 

My class celebrating a birthday

Her embroidered shirt twinkled as the light hit some of the sequins in a way that caused a plethora of colors to reflect onto their drinking glasses.

“I know it’s true because the Bible says that Jesus appeared to His disciples and crowds after He came back to life, He stayed on earth for awhile, and then ascended into heaven.  Now, He is ruling at the right hand of God the Father and will one day return.  And, it’s because of this historical event that Jesus was like a new Adam, the man God created in the beginning.  He succeeded where Adam failed.   He brings restoration and life where Adam once brought pain, death, and curses.”

Their expressions that were once of inquiry begun to become more pensive. What was the application of this truth? 

“If Adam brought death, and Jesus brings life, where do we stand?”

“This sin that man committed in the beginning was hereditary.  The Bible claims that all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  So, each of us is born into the kingdom of darkness, and as citizens of that kingdom, we receive the curses of that kingdom: pain and death.”

Swimming at the Camp!

Attempting to analyze their present citizenship, they questioned to which kingdom they belonged.

“However, because God is like a loving, faithful, and forgiving Father, He sent His Son, Jesus, to bless all nations, beat the curses of sin, crush the serpent, and bring about a new kingdom. ”

The girl sitting adjacently of her looked down at her leather sandals, unpolished toes wiggling nervously.  Her next question would reveal faith. She blinked a few times and looked up.

“So, how does our citizenship change?” 

“Remember what I said Jesus taught about?”

“Yeah.”  The three responded in unison.

“What was it?” She questioned.

Joseph had to hurry and put on shoes...
Yep.  He picked his mom's shoes.

“He taught about His kingdom and told people to prepare for it by turning from their evil ways and following Him.”

“By believing Jesus as the One God promised since man sinned in the beginning, admitting that you belong to the kingdom of darkness due to your sinfulness, asking God to forgive you of your sins, and committing to follow Him as you prepare for His kingdom that is already here, but not yet come to full consummation, your citizenship is changed.”

Despite their country being a country in which Christians were persecuted and proselytizing was illegal, each one of the girls at the table committed their lives to following Jesus that day.  The girls gazed at their friend with a deep gratitude for her boldness to share this message of what she had learned while she was living in Magadonia with them.  

Remember that this is a fictional narrative based upon a true story.  Magadonia is a made-up country that I read to my students in a book called, “Wayside School is Falling Down” by Louis Sachar.