Seeing and Believing

'As the sun begins to set, the people come in from the fields and gather in the center of the village. There are several trees to provide shade as well as little shelters made with thatched roofs supported by a branch at each of the four corners. Little groups of people sit here and there were enjoying each other's company as they talk and laugh, sip tea or fry dough. We join the hubbub, probably causing quite a scene because it's not every day that white people come to town. 

Yobancheri, an African evangelist who is leading us, finds a place for us to set up the Jesus film  (http://www.jesusfilm.org), which is our purpose in coming this evening. The Jesus Film Project provided us with a backpack that is neatly packed with a collapsible screen, sound system, and video player - all solar powered and perfect for this kind of work in Africa. 

As the people gather and we wait for the sun to set, I break out my guitar and my dad sits down with his djembe drum. We play a few songs that we know just to bring in the crowd. When the audience is large enough, we start to play "How Great is Our God". I know the chorus in Moore, one of the tribal languages of the Moore people of Burkina Faso. When I start to sing, I see eyes light up and the crowd begins to murmur. Although I don't know what they are saying, it must be something like, "What? Do you hear that? Is that white girl singing in Moore?" Some look shocked and amazed to hear their language spoken, some find it funny, and some appear joyfully fascinated. That opens the door for worship in a native tongue, so we pass the microphone and the djembe over to some local church leaders, and they take it away from there. 

Before the movie starts, we experience a worship session. One woman leads, and then the rest of the participants echo that verse joyfully with clapping and even some dancing. Once it is dark enough, we start up the video, and the people hush as they hear the story of Jesus in their own language. 

For a people who value story telling and who have little access to the written word of God, the impact of this video is huge. Even though some of them already know Christ, they may not know all of the stories about him. When they watch the disciples bring in a boat load of fish at Jesus' command, they ooh and aah aloud. When they see him raise a dead girl to life, they erupt with applause. You should of heard their response when Jesus cast the demons out of a man. They went wild with excitement! 

"When they see, they believe," Geoffrey explains to us as we sit on the tailgate of the car and watch the crowd. It's as simple as that, I think, yet oh how slow we are to believe. This is how we should respond to the miracles and the words of Jesus. I think about my own culture and the churches I know back home. Why have we lost the joy and wonder and fascination in the stories of Jesus? Why do we ponder and debate and argue over his words more than we just celebrate them? Why don't we dance when we worship, ooh and ahh when we hear the word of God, and applaud when we see him do miracles in our lives? How does such simple belief - which makes so much sense - get lost in our complicated world? 

At the end of the film, Yobancheri addresses the crowd. "What miracles did you see Jesus do?" He first asks. After they list some various miracles, he follows up by asking, "If Jesus can do all these things, who is he?"

"The son of God!" The crowd answers. 

"And then what should we do?" Yobancheri asks. 

"We should worship him." They respond. 

These people remind me of the original responders to Jesus when they first saw his power and miracles. Luke 9:43 says, "And they were all astonished at the majesty of God." Luke 5:26 also says, "And amazement seized them all, and they glorified god and were filled with awe, saying, 'we have seen extraordinary things today.' " 

I have seen something extraordinary today, too. I have seen people respond to Jesus with awe, wonder, and worship. I am challenged to purge my own life of unnecessarily complicated faith because I have witnessed a fresh and simple faith that inspires me to just see and believe.