God's Peace Under Stress

 

[1]

Isaiah 26:3 King James Version

³ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

 

We were teaching at Ikizu Secondary School in Tanzania in the tenth year of national independence. The government was still feeling its way through political challenges, economic challenges, and undesirable colonial hangovers. Besides, much of recently independent Africa was suffering from political instability. Country after country suddenly had a violent coup de tat that destroyed the ruling government and replaced it by a power-hungry revolutionary. Recently Idi Amin, a Ugandan army general, had seized control of Uganda, while the current president was abroad at some meetings. He methodically killed anybody who was connected with the previous regime or might have leanings towards it. Over a million people died from his voracious anger and insecurity.

The Tanzanian government became very skittish. They viewed their own army as being suspect. Any alien was subject to a 24-hour expulsion from the country, if there was any suspicion that he or she might be critical of the government.

I was aware of this policy. I had taught for over four years not allowing myself to say anything critical or disrespectful of anything related to the government. I did my best to positively support all of their actions.

Peter was a student at Ikizu who was always critical of anything smacking of authority. He had circulated lies about the previous year’s principal, a well-respected Tanzanian who had since gone on and gotten elected as a member of parliament. In 1971, restless Peter decided to get me thrown out of the country with 24-hour notice. He started circulating lies about me. He accused me of defaming the flag and the government. He pushed these lies into every government committee that would give him ear.

The current principal called me in and informed me of what was happening. I realized that we were under the shadow of a 24-hour expulsion threat. Sylvia and I packed our important papers and a change of clothing into a little suitcase we could easily grab and walk out the door. The SDA Tanzanian headquarters also heard about it and offered to reassign me to a new mission post in a different country.

“Thank you!” I told them, “But I’m innocent of all of their charges. I feel no fear of physical attack. So, leave me here unless things get worse.”

We claimed the promise that God would keep us in perfect peace and rested on His promise. I confess that my mind was not 100% peaceful. But I did have full trust that God would look after us and went about my business as usual. In spite of Peter’s agitation, we finished the year in fine fettle. The next year we had a furlough, and I returned to the States to finish my graduate degree. I have always looked back on that experience with deep thanks to God for seeing us through.

 

Thank You, Lord, for preparing us for future trials and for your assurance that You will keep us in peace through those!

 

 

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[1] Idi Amin. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Mo1M-BEyOxPfcg9a4jFxEGDOTnh-Mw55wJXlxa4rhSh22GP9s5O32RFalXWRmcCENQLbDovbrtq3USvU9krxT-e1KeW1A7eGk50GdTj1IQ0KwePwz6HsRifhc0HQl0O7I0QqsrgYaw/s1600/Idi+Amin+Dada%252C+dictator%252C+Uganda.jpg

Green Earth and Creation Stamps

Isaiah 45:18

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

¹⁸ The Lord created the heavens.
    God formed the earth and made it.
    He set it up.
    He did not create it to be empty
        but formed it to be inhabited.

This is what the Lord says:

I am the Lord, and there is no other.

 On July 24, 2016, I went down to the Quality Anaheim Sunday Stamp Show. Claude Abraham waved at me and said he had some things he thought I might be interested in. He knows more about stamps than anyone else I know, and I sat down at his booth to see what he had to offer this time. One of these was a stack of souvenir sheets.

This Palau sheet immediately caught my attention. Initially I decided I wouldn’t buy it. I don’t collect Palau, an tiny island east of the Philippines and north of Papua New Guinea. But I do collect some topics, like Mathematicians on Stamps, Giraffes on Stamps for Sylvia, Famous Writers, and so on. So I bought this one and have included a copy of it.

I wondered if Palau was peopled by Adventists who celebrate creation every Sabbath. Did they urge the country to issue a beautiful issue honoring the creation and its Creator? Looking on Wikipedia, I saw that Adventists constitute a mere 5.3% of the population, whereas other Christians constitute over 75%. This stamp issue is rather a part of the great green earth movement that encourages humans to treat our planet with respect.

A couple months ago Sylvia and I returned home from a road trip back east to North Carolina. During that trip, we drove through vast stretches of hot desert where we encountered some amazingly powerful rain and hail storms. Vast prairies contrasted with the might Rocky Mountains that were visible for miles. We crossed beautiful rivers, wide enough and deep enough to allow ocean going vessels on them. Wild donkeys, buffalo, prong horn antelope, coyotes, and big horn sheep, all seeking to live out their own lives, graced our travels. We became almost claustrophobic as we pushed through the seemingly endless eastern deciduous forest where our horizons were less than 100 feet (30m) on either side of us.

Such marvelous and varied scenery and views we experienced, each special in its own way! Throughout our journey, we were often conscious of the mighty Creator who prepared all this for us and all others to enjoy.

Thank you, Lord, for creating a beautiful planet and placing us on it to cultivate and preserve it. Thank you, Jesus, for becoming human and living on earth with us to guide and save us.

#CREATION, #CALIFORNIA, #IA, #SOUVENIRSHEETS,  #STAMPS,  #STAMPSHOWS, #GRATITUDE, #PALAU, #GREEN, #ADVENTISTS, #CHRISTIANS, #ANAHEIM