What if you could get a glimpse of the future? Would it
change the way you would live? Remember
the Back to the Future movie and the mean kid Biff who drove his car into a
manure truck? In one of the sequels the
adult Biff takes a sports encyclopedia, sneaks onto the time machine, and goes
back in time to give the book to the younger Biff. Of course the younger Biff bets on all the
sports events already recorded in the future and makes millions, changing his
life forever.
Here I am on the plane flying back to Swaziland trying to
manage the long hours of travel it takes to get there. I was walking down the isle and I saw the
future. There was an African man dressed in traditional garb with his Bible
out. While waiting for the bathroom to
open up, I could overhear him telling a middle aged white man about Jesus.
I find irony in that.
Here I am a middle aged white man going to tell people in Africa about
Jesus and on the plane there is an African telling another version of me about
Jesus. And that my dear friends is the
future!
Did you know there is a global shift in the power centers of
Christianity? The church is growing
leaps and bounds in the southern and eastern hemispheres of our little
globe. The church in the north and west,
where we live, is shrinking at an alarming rate. As the US becomes more European in terms of
our post Christianity every day, I sometimes wonder as time goes by – who will
come to tell us (the north and west) about Jesus?
Let me fill you in on some behind the scenes plans I believe
God has for His world. He is going to
raise up an army of orphans from places like Swaziland and He is going to use
them to reach the world for Jesus. This
is His redemption plan for the AIDS pandemic the enemy is trying to use to wipe
out the entire country of Swaziland. (The UN says Swaziland will not exist by
2050 if AIDS is not curtailed)
So you can see why I get excited when I see an African
sharing His faith with a white man. God has taken me back to the future on this
airplane. I want to be a part of what I
believe to be His redeeming plan. How
about you?
I am going back to Africa betting on the future of the 2600
orphans being fed and discipled through the work of a handful of incredible
people on the ground and a whole lot of givers and senders back home. I think that bet could change not only their
lives but in fact literally change my world.
Wow that is ironic. As we become more and more developed, we move further away from Christ. Sad. You guys are doing great work. Maybe we can learn something from the southern and eastern hemispheres.
Peace, Love and Prayers.
Monte
Scott & Marcia,
You will be in my prayers daily while you are gone. I had a nice long note from your mother today so I am caught up a little on the Persingers.
Lots of love & prayers,
Linda
Great piece! Sometimes I see American Indians leading the evangelical surge to retake America for Jesus. Probably the scouts for the Swazi missionary army. Miss you guys. We’re doing well.
joe
Scott the Lord spoke these words to me last week.
“I’m not sending you to Africa to save Africa. I am sending you to Africa to save you. I will use Africa to save my church.”
Africa will save the church!!
He weaving the same theme here through all of us! Now this is exciting!!
Uncle Scott
I have a friend who is a shepherd in Bolivia and he recently told me this. A shepherd can lead, protect, and guide his flock…but it’s still the sheep’s responsibility to reproduce themselves.
Thanks for the encouraging story and we’ll be praying for you here.
You are a wild man! You know that don’t you. Now that you’ve seen the future, there will be no living with you when you get back!
I am new to your blog, and I just had to tell you that this is a great post!
I have no idea how I stumbled onto this blog. BUt one tthing I know is that it confirms a prompting and later a demand for me to go to Atlanta Georgia USA with the gospel. Imagine the questions I had about an African raised in Swaziland taking the gospel out there..
Now I have the confirmation. And I know and believe the prophecy of Swaziland “The pulpit of Africa”
Veli