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Brisk Winds of Change
Our Walk By Faith Part Five
Every now and then, into a life come whisperings that old riverbeds, as deep and natural as they may seem, are not necessarily the
best riverbeds. Sometimes the flow must change direction for the sake of the future. The current must be reversed and redirected.
(Author unknown) These have been favorite passages of mine down through the years. But after our months in Africa in 2006, we experienced exactly what they depict. The flow of our life dramatically changed for the sake of what the Father had ahead for us. The current of our lives was redirected and occasionally this did take our breath away, even as it broadened our horizons. The brisk winds of change began for us during our last evening on Mt. Elgon in May 2006. We went to bed that night knowing somehow everything was different. What it specifically meant, we didn’t know as yet. We were only certain that the overwhelming visitation of God on the mountain had left us forever affected in the depths of our souls. Indeed, life would never be the same for us after our 2006 months in the outermost bush of East Africa. Then shortly before we left for America, Pastor Tom from Mt. Elgon came to speak to us. These were his words that deeply moved us…
“Mama Ruth and Papa Barry, many ministries have come to Africa and many messages. Barry and I did search our hearts. We soberly pondered what this pastor had said. As we did, we were struck with the realization that our exploits and adventures in Africa during 2006 had been breathtaking. So much had happened. It was all unbelievable. What took place seemed like a novel or a storybook. Yet with our own eyes we had seen the wonders of the Lord. Surely our lives would never be the same. The days passed by. Our ministry in Uganda that momentous year came to an end and we began the final preparations for our departure. As we did, tears came quickly for us and our ministry team. We had grown so close. We were family. Our hearts now beat as one. The thought of being separated evoked in us the same feelings that Paul the Apostle expressed to those he also gave his life to…
We loved you so much that we gave you not only We wiped away many tears as we tightly clasped each other's hand. We cried just as a mother and father would weep if they knew it was going to be a long time before they could see their children again. As I glanced out the window of the plane while it steadily took us further and further from our African family, this farewell to the ones we were leaving so far behind rose up from the depths of my soul…
Oh beloved Africa, your people are surely our people. Back in the United States, we often pondered what the Father was saying to us about our call to Africa. Consequently, even as we enjoyed the comforts of our life here in America, now seared indelibly into the core of our being was our encounter with the horrors of the people that had been brutally driven from their villages by the ravaging violence of the Rebel fighters in Northern Uganda. Then the morning we stepped out of the van in the Aloi Refugee Camp and were overcome by the tragedy of thousands of children staring at us like the walking dead was an indelible imprint on our souls. And our longing to have a deep impact on the Sabean Tribe on Mt. Elgon and the lost tribes of the Karamajong and the Iteso was now a part of us. The only way we could say yes to this call to the most desperate, most unreached places in the bush of Northern and Eastern Uganda was to change every aspect of our lives and be there far longer each year. This was a sobering realization. The regions where we would be ministering are among the most dangerous in East Africa and the conditions are the harshest. These brisk winds of change that blew across our lives also required that we embrace an even more radical walk by faith because the Father still told us… “Never use the message I’ve entrusted to you of speaking of My glory and bringing people into My Holy Presence, to make pleas for money. You must continue to only trust Me for all the provision you need.” We continued to sacredly honor this instruction. As we did, we were strengthened by these promises from the Father that echoed in the chambers of our souls and gave us tremendous courage…
Because you obey Me, Facing serious needs, and only having God to cry out to for help, was already a way of life for us. But now, our trust in Him as the source of all our hope for miracles of provision would cost us far more dearly. Consequently, there were even more ways we were stretched, and even suffered, that only our Abba Father knew about when we returned to Africa in 2007. 
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