Daniel’s Story
Trip Testimony Series
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 ESV
The above scripture is something that has been speaking to me for the past few months. I have been in the book of James for a long time, and because of that the Lord has really been super kind to me. Revealing many things about his nature, and just romancing my heart through his divine word. He’s revealed many things that I have been able to wrestle with, and have been able to ask questions about, and just able to petition the Lord about his word.
One of the many things that the Lord was so gracious to reveal to me is the idea that in trials we can have joy, and in fact not just that we can have joy instead we should have joy. We should have joy in all trials. I have been chewing on this idea for many months now. The main reason that this has been on my heart for this long period of time is because the idea of facing trials as a human is not something that we look forward to. Trials are not things that I am excited to face, or that I really want to count as “all joy”. Why is that? Well as a selfish human I hate the idea that even as a Christian I am still going to have to face difficult times. This is not appealing to any human that I can think of, and if you are the one that this does not apply to please let's sit down and talk because I would love to hear how you are excited about trials.
In all seriousness though, I thought that I was to the point of being to accept trials and count them as joy, and with excitement. I was even to the point where people would come to me and we would basically walk through this section of scripture together when people that I am close to would be experiencing a rough time. I thought that I had reached the pinnacle of understanding and living this scripture. A quick aside I am a youth Pastor in the tiny town of Hawley Texas, and I have the beautiful opportunity to sometimes preach in the main service on Sundays. I actually was given this opportunity to preach on June 30th, 2019, so just a few days before we left for Tanzania. Sure enough the thing that I preached on was James 1:1-4, and I was ready to help some people deal with their hardships.
I preached on this topic on Sunday, and on Tuesday I was ready to take on Africa. So the morning we are going to leave I was going to prove how responsible I am, and I because I was driving I went to check my tires quickly before we head off to Houston. So I checked all the tires and I was going to top one of the tires off and, I did not realize that I actually was letting air out of my tire because there was a malfunction in the seal on the value of the air compressor. So I thought I was putting air in the tire when in fact I was just letting it out, and because of this I assumed that there was a hole in my tire (even though there was not) so I began to get frustrated and upset with God, because I was going to do his work and he should not let me get a flat tire. These were very foolish thoughts of little me to have towards a big and all powerful God, and so I began to change this tire. While I was changing this tire I was not doing it with Joy in fact i did not count it as joy at all. I was complaining and in fact I was upset with God. I was upset with God over a tire something as small as that, and it was not until my dad later texted me before we took off for Qatar and reminded me of the sermon that I preached just the other day that I knew I had not mastered this idea of counting it all joy when I face trials of various kinds.
So we are not even out of the country yet, and one of the things that I feel super confident in turns out to be one of my weaknesses. This is a great start. On the second day of the trip in Tanzania we get a new Driver it was no longer Valance who we expected, instead it was a man who would change the way that I view my faith forever, and his name is Saitoti. If there was any change on this trip that was totally unexpected it was for sure this one, and not only was it unexpected it was in fact the biggest blessing that we as a team could have received. The reason that I say this is because this is one of the strongest Christian men that I have ever met. One of the main reasons that i can say this is because not only is he our driver, but he in all things we do participate with us. When we are ministering to boys who live on the streets he is right there ministering along side of us. When we are praying for healing in a young man who has dealt with a crippling birth defect which causes much pain to this young man, he is right there praying and declaring healing too. When we go and play soccer with the local kids in the village down the street from where we are staying, he comes along and he is playing with us. However, the thing that shook me the most and took me back to James 1 was when we needed to exchange our American dollars for Tanzanian shillings.
We were running a little late, and the bank that we were going to was closed. So Saitoti walked Tori and McKenna to the ATM and they were about to pull money out, but Saitoti did not want them to pull it out with their own card because there would be a fee so he said that he would pull out money of his own account so we could have spending money. We told him how much we needed and he was taken aback, and said that he could not take out that much because he only has about $480 in his account, but he said he would still pull it all out for a group of American young adults who he has no idea who they really are. With a smile on his face and joy pouring out of his heart he sees a ministry that is happening that he knows will change lives, but he sees his own lack of physical needs and disregards it as nothing. He did exactly what Paul did in Philippians 3:8 “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ”. Saitoti saw the money he had or rather that he did not have , and he did not see it in a selfish way of thinking that because he did not have much he should keep it. Instead he said that it is not a matter of having but all physical things are garbage compared to Christ. So he counted it as a pure joy to give all that he had in the midst of a hard time and trials. When he has the right to be selfish because he does not have much he is instead completely selfless. This is all being done while a dear friend to Saitoti his neighbor was in the hospital and then later passed away. This all happened in the week we have been in Tanzania.
The Lord took me across the world to minister to people of Arusha, and to spread the gospel. However, that is not the only reason that he pulled me here in his divine will, he did so that I might meet and see what it truly looks like to live out James 1:1-4 and to live out Philippians 3 and 4 (which I highly recommend that y’all read this week both James and Philippians). Saitoti is a man who Jesus is the center of his life and the only way in which he can live each of his days is the recognition that Jesus Christ is the center and the foremost of all that he does.
Thank you so much for all the continued prayers, but please also add Saitoti to your list: That the Lord may continue to sustain him, that his children have their school fees paid for, that all of his physical needs be met both monetarily and otherwise, and most importantly continue to pray that he keeps the faith.
Thank you and God bless.