An Update from K & K, Our North African Gospel Partners
Another family update comes to us from North Africa, where K & K have been investing their lives over the last few years. They are a valued part of our Family of Churches and we hope you will feel encouraged (and encouraged to pray for them!) as you read about what has been going on in their lives and the lives of those around them.
What are some of the highlights you are experiencing in your context right now?
We are seeing God at work in a special way! We are seeing new life, baptisms, growth in Christ, and new leaders beginning to rise up among our national disciples here. We are specifically part of a small network of growing fellowships that are experiencing an exciting season of discovering the path of Jesus together. Brand-new hymns are being written, the challenges of unity and love are being faced, and the lost are hearing the Good News. On a personal note, we have been learning much from these brand-new national believers as they come to the practices of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper with a deep reverence and joy, seeing them for what they are - practices from the Lord that are imbued with deep blessing (John 13:15, 17). We are convicted as we realize just how little we have grasped their spiritual significance in the past!I think we are also realizing new depths of what a privilege it is to do Jesus’ work in any sense in any part of the world, but for us specifically in this context. We talk a lot about international gospel workers sacrificing comforts and undergoing the painful journey of living overseas. But we are experiencing something else entirely–the sweetness and privilege of seeing God do new things in a new place and watching Him work, and experiencing new depths of our relationship with Him. In many ways, despite the challenges, we feel spoiled by Jesus, and we get the privilege of experiencing treasures of the gospel that we may not have seen otherwise.
What are some of the challenges?
One of the challenges we are facing right now we would categorize as a “good problem”: since we have a number of people that have come to the Lord, we are now faced with a number of personal challenges that each of these people have that are being revealed as they begin to walk in the light and in the newness of life. It is a big challenge for us to navigate discipleship in a different culture, in a language we just learned, with deeply broken people. We are seeking God as to how to best deal with those challenges, as the cultural and religious background these new brothers and sisters are coming from is full of all sorts of darkness, brokenness, and wounding. The average level of trauma that a new believer brings with them is overwhelming – they are coming from a dark religion with a plainly evil God and often cruel and violent upbringings, and usually with zero familiarity or resources on counseling, healing, or emotional health. Both breakthrough and long-term processes are needed.We also are already encountering the challenge of church discipline. There are new members of the community who are very divisive and critical, and we are praying carefully over how to protect this small new flock, while also having hope and love for these new members. We need the Spirit’s discernment!
What aspects of Jesus’ character or pieces of scripture are resonating with you most right now?K1:
“The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). Despite living in a very dark place, we keep seeing the light of Christ break through, bringing new life, and strengthening and sustaining. And God has given us this great promise in the midst of it!K2: I’m seeing Jesus’ rebukes in a whole new light. In the last week alone, I’ve had to have intentional confrontations with five separate people for separate issues, two Americans and three local believers. I’m learning that rebuke can be a selfless act of love, where you set aside your own discomfort and fear for the good of the other person–and that you have to be ok if they end up upset with you! I had always read Jesus’ firm rebukes of the disciples and the Pharisees as scary and almost cruel, but now I am awed by his confident love and his willingness to endure others’ wrath in order to speak toward their good.
What does it mean to you to be a part of the Restored Family of Churches in this season?
We are beyond blessed to be part of the greater Restored Family because we know that that really is what we are together - a family. Not an institution, not a club, not an NGO, not a company, but brothers and sisters in Christ. And from the beginning of our participation with all of you until now that has been clear to us. Specifically speaking, the kinds of things we went through in the last two and a half years would just simply not have been possible had we not had the incredible encouragement, support and guidance of the greater Restored family.
What are some current ways that being connected to the FOC is encouraging you in your gospel work?
Having now deeply experienced the way of doing church as a family, that is something we can actually pass on to our national brothers and sisters here. Ideas like sacrificial love, generosity, boundaries, forgiveness, and commitment have been essential here. After all, you can’t pass on what you don’t know! In addition, every single time we speak with anyone from the FOC they are nothing but encouraging, and we really do feel like we are being cheered on to continue the work that God has called us. It’s hard to put into words just how much that means for us.Also, we recently had the opportunity to visit South Africa to see the Clarks’ send-off and commissioning. It was a huge encouragement to be reminded of what healthy leadership looks like, and to see the amount of love and care that went into that leadership transition. The local Body here has a chronic, painful history of abusive leaders and factions, and it was a breath of fresh air and a reminder of hope to see that Jesus-following, servant leadership is really possible.What ways can we as individuals in this Family of Churches, or in our local churches, partner with you in your gospel work?We cannot stress how much sustained, intentional, specific prayer does for this work here. Though it is a profound mystery that we cannot easily explain, we know deep in our hearts that many good things have taken place during our time here because people around the world have been praying. Colossians 4:2-4 and 2 Thessalonians 3:1 are prayers that we often think of and are great starting places if you want to participate in praying for our work here. If you’re at our “home” church, Restored Uptown, you can talk to the Pallesons about joining our intentional prayer team! We also have intentional prayer teams with several other Restored churches, so feel free to reach out and ask your leaders about them.We also plan to be in Southern California for the October Family of Churches retreat this year, as well as for a period of time before and after. We would love to get time with you and share more, so don’t hesitate to reach out.
Any words of encouragement for us as we continue as co-laborers in the Gospel in our corner of the world?
Please be encouraged as you read the brief description above of the spiritual life of our national disciples. Each of them is coming from a difficult background, and daily face struggles that may be hard to conceive of for us coming from a Western background. But what they have done is what believers from all places and times have done - they have perceived that Jesus truly is the treasure hidden in the field, and have sold everything for it (Matt. 13:44). What can you do today in order to treasure Jesus more fully? Is there anything standing in the way of Him that needs to be “sold” to do so?Another word of encouragement is a reminder that America is not our only example of church. I think it can be easy to be discouraged by various chronic problems in the American church and culture, and to feel disillusioned. But God is moving in amazing and new ways all around the world, and the gospel is an incredibly powerful and freeing message for so many who have never heard it. It really is special to see someone receive the gospel as the revolutionary good news that it is, and to remember that Jesus and his love are truly precious and powerful. Despite all of the complications of Christian culture, please don’t lose sight of the absolute wonder of what God has done for us.I picked up a shell at the beach every time we saw a new believer baptized. Most of these are from the last two months!
