Everything we own belongs to God

I’m publishing a note from our friends Larry and Karen Wolters in Burkina Faso. Several of you at West Ridge Church have stayed in or eaten meals in this house in Ougadougou. What happens when historic rains comes to one of the driest places on the globe? Have a read and a look.

“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands”.

When our family made the move to Burkina Faso, we left behind our lives that were full of “things”. These “things” were objects that we could certainly live without. As a matter of fact a bit of embarrassment fell upon us as we saw all of the “things” we put out in our yard sales as we sold everything except that which could fit into the 20 ft container we were shipping to Burkina Faso. It was a reality check for us all. When we arrived here in Burkina we made a conscious decision to not accumulate “things” and lead a simpler lifestyle. One Christmas Abby received three new pairs of flip flops and upon receiving them; she had to surrender three old pairs of shoes to give away. Every year we clean out all of our cupboards to make sure that we are not accumulating “things” again. We seek not to have too much and not to become too attached to what we have. Yesterday, when we woke up to the rains falling, this whole idea of attaching ourselves to “things” resurfaced. As the water entered our house, all I could think about were the “things” we had that would possibly get ruined. As Micah and I ran throughout the house frantically blocking entrances with towels, the tears fell. At one moment Micah grabbed me, and said “Mom everything is going to be ok”. He put his arms around me, and cried out to God to help us, to give us wisdom, and to calm our souls. God answered and friends came to help us to bail out and to further protect our home. Our night guard stayed to help. His home was possibly flooding, and his wife was home alone, but he would not leave us. When things appeared to be under control at our house we went over to the C&MA office across the road, and found that it was at least a couple of feet underwater. Office equipment, supplies, files, all ruined. Hours of work lay ahead of us. The tears just kept falling as I continued to focus inwardly. It was a long day, and not one I would care to relive. Today, God humbled me, and helped me to regain my focus as the news of the numerous tragedies surfaced. There are people that have nothing more than the shirts on their backs. I became ashamed for fretting over “things”. There is a feeling in my stomach that I wish would just go away. God is working in me and I am thankful for His help. Thanks for listening…… I needed to vent. Please remember that the needs here are abounding. Your prayers are needed.

Karen

Here’s a link to their facebook pictures…~Paul    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=8534281&id=775495363#/photo.php?pid=8534282&id=775495363