peace be upon you.
I learned about this afghan phrase today as I was listening to the extremely powerful words of a missionary named Libby Little. For many years Libby, her husband, and her 2 young children were missionaries in Afghanistan. I was truly inspired by Libby's story of suffering, pain, and great hardships all in order to bring glory to God and to help these people who no one else seemed to care about.
Libby explained that in Afghanistan when you speak this phrase "peace be upon you" to another, you are literally roped in; you are essentially saying that I want to help that peace be in your life. She explained that it is costly to give this greeting of peace just as it was costly for God to send down His son to die for us; when you say "assalaamu alaikum" you have to be ready and willing. It's not something that you just throw around. Lately I've been thinking about this word peace and how we just throw it around so much that it has essentially become void of meaning. It has become the "cool" thing to say, just as the sign for peace has become the "cool" thing to wear. Is it just me or is literally everyone wearing peace signs?
anways, I just think that the way the people in Afghanistan take this phrase "peace be upon you" to have so much meaning and power is truly beautiful.
Another Afghan greeting which means 'how are you?' is also MUCH different from out typical north American greeting. It means so much more than simply how are you, it means how is your family? your health? your home? your life?
and when they ask this, they truly want to know your answer. I just found this to be so beautiful because I know that I constantly fall into the trap of 'how are you?' good.
'how are you?'
'good.'
and then that's the end of it and I carry on with my day. We are just always so rushed in American culture that when someone asks how you are they ususally don't truly care how you are, they just want to hear 'good' and be done with it.
How awesome would it be if we all just slowed down and everytime we asked 'how are you' we genuinely wanted to know how that person was doing in every aspect of their life. How awesome would it be if we all genuinely cared about eachother and took the time to listen, not just when it's convenient for us but any time of day.
Libby explained that this is the KEY to evanglism. Not being an amazing speaker, not having every verse in the bible memorized. No, the key to evangelism is simply having compassion and listening to people with all your heart. Libby explained that she hardly ever shared the gospel message in Afghanistan but instead just took the time to become people's friends, listen to their problems, and try to help them in any way. Through this, 100s of Afghan people turned their lives over to Christ. It had essentially nothing to do with her knowledge of the Bible, or her speaking ability.
Of course being knowledgable in the Bible and being able to speak well in front of people is in no way a bad thing or futile when it comes to spreading the gospel. As we've seen it is through the work of amazing speakers like Greg Laurie that thousands of people become believers every year.
but sometimes it's easy for us to get caught up in all of this and start thinking that if you're not the greatest speaker or if you don't know everything there is to know about the Bible then you simply cannot witness to people. This could not be farther from the truth. Sometimes all it takes is a listening ear and a heart filled with compassion to turn someone's life to Christ.
in other news
I want to get out of America.
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3 comments:
Lizzy, I really enjoyed your last post. Very true!!! I too want to get out of America. It's the greatest country in the world and I'm proud to be an American, but my heart is somewhere outside of our comforts here. One thing I learned in Africa was this; everything is in Africa time. They seem to have no concept of time and they are so relational. And like you said it's relationship building that gets us in their homes and in their lives to help lead them to the Savior.
We are such a rushed society and I'm guilty of asking how things are and just hoping for a "good" answer and moving on. I will try and spend more time with people and listen and not always rush.
Thanks for the reminder.
wow this is truly so inspiring! I agree whole heartedly with everything you said about evangelism. What I've found in my own ministry is that people respond so much more when you're simply willing to listen or help them or be their friend as opposed to spewing a whole bunch of facts about the Bible at them.
I am soo thankful to have you as a friend, you truly inspire me to be a better person =) I cannot wait to see the great things God does through you whether it be here or maybe in Africa one day!
Lizzy this was awesome. I wish so much that people would realize that we don't need to memorize 100's of scriptures or pound spititual laws into peoples heads. Love, compassion and grace go so much farther. I love reading about what is going on in your life and I love hearing your thoughts. I have to say that I will be so excited for the day that you are able to leave America because I know that your heart is not here. I feel like I have left America in my mission field even though it is still here. Funny how things work.
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