Saving Souls

LR: Is there air-conditioning?

DC: No.

LR: Is it the hottest place in the country, in the world?  Yes.  Is it a mission field?  Yes.  Is it the poorest country in the world?  Yes.  Are people starving?  Yes.

NC: But, you know, it doesn’t matter.  I mean, it doesn’t affect you if you’re hot.  When you’re leading somebody to Christ, you’re fulfilling the purpose that God had for you.  It doesn’t matter how sweaty you are, whatever it is.  You are telling somebody Jesus loves them for the first time.  It’s awesome!

DC: I developed, I guess I would call it maybe a coping mechanism when we first got there.  It is a difficult place to live.  It’s harsh.  It’s a harsh climate.  It’s harsh on your physical body.  It’s harsh on your electronics.  It’s harsh on everything for people there.

And there was a time I felt discouraged, “What am I doing here?  You mean God really called me to this place?”  And it was just a momentary, it wasn’t a long-term.  But, I mean, it was just one of those—and I was hot, you know.

NC: So then we had to say, “Well, you’ve got to get out and go do some ministry.”

DC: I had already committed that day to go out to a village.  I wouldn’t have gone, had I not already made the commitment.  And I went out there, and I was with those people.  I was in a village service.  And it was just like, “This is what it’s all about.”  And I came back so renewed and refreshed after being in ministry.

And Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of my Father.”  And that’s what I realized, so now I know whenever I start felling like that, I need to get out and do some ministry.  And it’s my fix every time.

LR: The kids came back, and they came back with a passion and a zeal.  And I want to say insight.  They began to think of ideas with the Revolution album.  They began to think of a school, they began, they began, they began.

I think sometimes God just has to let us kick-start in the place we’re going to go, and then suddenly when we ourselves kick-started, all of the sudden ideas and concepts and thoughts and provision starts literally—it’s just like Amber and Jordan said, Amber threw out the idea.  And like Jordan said, “Yeah, that’s an idea.”  But instantly the spirit of faith hit her, “Wait a minute.  That’s not an idea.  We can do this.”

And these are kids in their early twenties.  These girls are gradating this year from ORU.  They finished their coursework early, typical of Amber and Jordan and Haley and these babies.  And they got done early and they didn’t get to walk across the platform.  She’ll get to walk in May.  And they were finished, Amber I think almost a year early, Jordan a semester early.

And these are kids.  These are kids, barely in the beginning of their twenties.  And yet they’re building schools and visions and things.  And they believe it’s doable.  It’s not like, “Okay, in 20 years, we’re going—-well, if God.”  No, God is now.  God’s sending them.  The need is now.

And so I want to encourage you of that, you know, if God lays it on your heart—I don’t even think Jordan thought about it.  I don’t think you even thought—a negative thought never crossed your mind.  First is the idea, and then, “We can do this thing.”

And I think God’s looking for that.  If people will just hear the idea and say, “Yes, Lord, we can do this thing,” that’s faith.  And then I believe as God dropped that and you have faith for it, what He orders He pays for.  And we’ve seen the provisions just start rolling in.

DC: We’ve had a desire for years since arriving in Niger to do a school and just didn’t know how that was going to happen, but it was, again, one of those seeds that was in there.  And God connected us with another organization that was looking to build schools in Niger.