October 27, 2012
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Living with Gibeon
I know that at least one person reading this thinks that I have found a male roommate for while I am a way in the village. Well that is gross and not funny!
Actually, this is a more serious subject. Lately we have been doing a study in our church about the book of Joshua. Everyone knows the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho. But that is not what made me want to write today. This week we have been talking about the people of Gibeon. If you don’t know this story, you should read it. Basically, Joshua was told by God to decimate all of the people who currently resided in the promise land. The people of Gibeon (a group who lived in the promise land prior to their arrival) had a decision to make… live or die. Well they chose the likely option, they wanted to live. So in doing so, they chose to disguise themselves to appear that they had traveled great distance to get to Jericho. They then convinced the Isrealites that they were from a long distance and that they needed to have a treaty with the Isrealites. Long story short, it worked and Joshua found out. So rather than breaking a promise of the treaty, he chose to punish them by basically making them slaves.
But that is not the part of the story that struck me this week. My thoughts have been about the sequel to that story. What was it like to live with the people who openly lied to you and caused you to sin? What was it like to be constantly reminded of how you failed to follow the direction of God with liars, con men?
For the first time in my life, I have finally connected with a bible character. Now I am not saying I could lead the chosen people in any way. I do however relate with having to live with people who deceive and lie. Now I imagine that the Gibeonites gave up on their outright lying once they were chosen to live. But I would imagine that the Isrealites were a bit bent and bitter toward them for a long time following, as if they were still lying to them daily. And that is the one of my huge struggles here.
It is a constant personal battle mostly. How do you react to lying and still represent God? Do we correct them? Do you accept that it is the WORLD and that evil is always present? My personal problem is properly reacting and knowing when its necessary. There are times when the lies need to be addressed and there are times when you need to just accept that it is something that is harmless and allow it to pass. I know that. But honestly, its only human to get stressed and bothered about it. I really need prayer about this. It is not horrible most of the time. But there are moments when you just want to get angry and yell. Man, this is a hard one!
I will admit, not everyone is a pathological liar in Uganda. There are some good people here and praise God for them! But the percentage of people commonly cheat to prosper is so much higher than what I am used to in good old, conservative Grand Rapids, Michigan.
On a separate subject, Halleluiah we have a new house! We moved in two weeks ago and are absolutely loving it! The space is the part that is most enjoyable. Not having to worry about the weather and knowing we can travel regardless, is absolutely priceless! It is all around improving the kids’ moods, Liz’s and my own. Just driving home is a wonderful reminder of how the Lord provides. Thanks to everyone who supported us with prayers. It was a bit stressful, but totally worth it in the end!
The kids are excelling at school. I am so proud of them. They are really trying hard and it is really paying off. I want to give props to the teachers and administration of Acacia Classical Academy. They were a blessing poured out to us from above. I am quite certain that it would be impossible to continue the ministry with the burden of home schooling still. Their willingness to work with us financially and their heart for quality education is life changing to us!
Chad Neeley
Volunteer Construction Coordinator – WWCS USA/Uganda
