He is a Consuming Fire

"Consuming Fire
Fan into flame
A passion for Your Name.
Spirit of God
Fall on the place
Lord have your way"

 Hello everyone,  I wanted to give an update on the latest from my, (Rebekah's) perspective.

Jason recently wrote about the difficult decision that he and Amos had to make- letting go two farm workers.  I can testify that this decision was made with lots of consideration and prayer. It weighed heavily on them but ultimately they knew it was the right decision.

Every one employed at the farm knows that working there means you are agreeing to not take another wife.  (Two wives is one too may.) Even though their Islamic religion says they can, the conditions for working at the farm are that they cannot; so if another wife is taken the result is termination of the job. When H*m*s* married wife #2, everyone watched and waited to see what would be done. Letting him go and his mother in law (of wife#2) had to be done, to make a precedence. The condition to not take a second wife is serious, not just mere words. This example showed everyone there are consequences for actions. Even still it was really heartbreaking to end the employment to these individuals because there was a relationship with them that had taken years to build.

Curently it is windy season, and it is in full force. Before H*m*s* was fired, the roof to his new house blew off. (A few posts before this one, there are pictures of his blue and yellow house being painted) My first thought was what the  Bible says in Galatians 6:7-8 " A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life". Did his roof blow off due to his life's choices? I am thankful I am not the final judge- I will leave that to the Lord. We pray for H- as he is now the father of two families. We eagerly plead to God to soften his heart and remove the blinders overs his eyes.  H*m*s*'s first wife has such an outgoing personality. I have enjoyed getting to know her throughout the years. When there was evidence that H*m*s* had taken another wife, his first wife came to the farm and told Jason to go ahead and fire her husband. She reassured Jason that it would be okay. She explained that before her husband worked at the farm he made charcoal and he would go back to doing that. Her words were surprising in some ways but in others- it seems she like she desired justice to be done. Jason hired a roofer to replace the roof on the house even after H*m*s* was no longer an employee. The roof is fixed and secure now.

A little while ago my daughters and I learned how to pick weeds with M- the mother n law (before she was fired). She patiently would answer me each time I asked her, "Can I pick this?" She either answered  "Yes, that's a weed. You can pick." Or, "No, that's a vegetable, do not pick." It was a big challenge for me to distinguish between the two- they were both green and  leafy. M is a widow, and has never gone to school. Currently one of her sons is in high-school and works on Saturdays to get money to pay his school fees. M is not the only widow, her best friend is one too and she also works on the farm. When I went more recently to the farm it was sad to see the best friend picking weeds without M by her side. We still care so deeply about M and are glad her son is still around. We wish there was another way around this. Still praying God to give dreams and reveal Himself to M. 

In any part of the world news spreads like a wild fire (including false news). In a matter of days everyone in the surrounding villages had heard about H and M being released from their jobs. The first rumor that circled was that their were several villagers that wanted to discuss this "wrong doing" with Jason and Amos. Both went to the farm the next day to wait for the discussion to happen- no one turned up. There was another rumor that the widow, M, was going to try to sue, but when she was asked if this was true, she quickly dismissed this accusation. In many ways it seems that the initial shock value has settled down and life has resumed back to normal. Initially, Jason had told me that the farm workers- wouldn't look him in the eye, let alone talk to him, right after it happened. Thankfully that has passed.

We have been waiting for a long time to see God transform the hearts of the farm workers. Last night Jason got a message from a different worker that wants to discover who Jesus is, for himself. Jason was overcome emotion when he read that message out loud to us. Of course we have no doubts that Jesus is not comparable to any other God. Jesus is good no one else is. Jesus paid our debt through his sacrifice. Jesus can break chains, heal, and give hope for the future. We give so much praise to God that there is another that is hungry to find out more about Jesus.