| As
I get older, I’m often amazed looking
back, at how God pursues us almost relentlessly,
over the course of our life. Even despite
our efforts to avoid Him (or at least mine)
and His desires and His plans for us, until
finally, He softens and changes our hearts
and makes us ready for the things we have
been called to by Him and for those things
He designed us for.I think He is very much
like a hunter (most likely a bow hunter I
suspector would like to think)and we are the
animal trying our best to elude Him. I think
David expressed these thoughts more articulately
than I – “Everywhere I go, there
You are oh Lord, if I go to the depths of
the sea, or to a far away land, there You
are.” David realized God’s pursuit
of Him all throughout his life, even when
he was involved in sin or great depression
– God still pursued him – as He
does us. |
|
It all started one late winter afternoon in 2003,
when my missionary friend Derek Vaksdal (with
YWAM) called me and said that a group of Christian
Professional Hunters in South Africa (PH’s)
or (CPH’s if you will) had been praying
for over 2 years for someone who loves God and
someone who loves hunting, to come to South Africa
and go on safari, show the Jesus Film, and pray
with them over the future of what God had laid
on their hearts. Derek said “I think that
the guy they have been praying for is you –
Brian” For months prior to this phone call
my heart had a “burning” that I wanted
to do something for the Lord, because He had been
so gracious to me over the years and I wanted
to have a greater purpose. My prayer went something
like this “Lord I love you and I want to
do something for You, but I’m not quite
sure what you want me to do or really what I’m
good at – all I know is that I want You
to receive glory and that there is some kind of
desire in my heart – “a burning”
and I don’t even know what it is –
please show me what I can do that will make Your
heart happy.”
Many well-intentioned people in my church, who
don’t really know me all that well, have
often asked me “what are you doing for the
Lord – what ministry or ministries are you
in”? I must admit that my nature is somewhat
feisty and so my reply was “I’m in
the Average Joe ministry.” This statement
would often result in a question mark on the face
or an open mouth and they would ask me to explain.
So I explained that I don’t think God made
me as a person that can just go up to some stranger’s
door and tell Him or her that they have fallen
short of the perfection of God, that they need
God’s help, and that God loves them and
provided His son as a living sacrifice and that
Jesus rose from the dead, all in the manner of
a few minutes (provided the door does not get
slammed in my face). I would go on to explain
that I did not particularly want to direct traffic
for the church parking ministry (I have enough
trouble just trying not to irritate the drivers
in regular secular traffic), nor did I want to
be in the cooking ministry (my cooking is likened
to the Ted Nugent ministry – Kill it and
grill it), generally my meals consist of only
one course – meat or fish offered up as
a pleasant aroma unto God – ON THE GRILL.
So I would finally tell them that I made a deal
with God and told Him “Lord – bring
me people of every day walks of life and everyday
type situations so that I can tell them Who You
are, and how You have helped me.” I find
that God brings me people all the time who are
often curious, want advise, want encouragement,
or want to go hunting or fishing – yes that’s
right – you heard me – just simply
want to go hunting or fishing. Isn’t that
cool – that God would take the thing or
passion He gave us and let us practice it –
all the while having fun and giving glory to Him
by witnessing to someone He wants to have a relationship
with. Many times the people I am witnessing to
– sometimes minister back to me and God
speaks to my heart as well.
So back to my explanation to the “well-intentioned”
people of my church as to my involvement in ministry
or ministries. After describing what I was doing
for the Lord, I would always go away afterward
and have a desire to do more, to be more involved
than I had been previously. My question was this
“Lord – how can I serve you more –
of all the things of service that are available
what do I choose that will be pleasing to You?”
I think His answer was very simple to me and went
something like this – “you like to
hunt don’t you?, you like adventure? ,you
like to tell people about me don’t you?,
you don’t think I gave you hunting and fishing
just for your pleasure do you – I gave it
to you not only for your pleasure, but as something
you can give Me glory by.” I think I heard
Him say softly “Brian – there are
people who will never set foot in a church because
church can be a scary place – full of Hippocrates,
etc, but there are people who like to play in
My playground.”
One of the other things I’m learning throughout
the years of my love relationship with the Lord,
is how interested He is – even in the small
details of our lives, and how he has made each
of us with differing abilities, talents, interests,
desires, etc. We truly are fearfully and wonderfully
made – each one of us. When I see an athlete
do something extraordinary, when I hear a musician
make a beautiful sound that stirs my heart, when
I see the great design of an architect, or the
beautiful painting of an artist, when I see a
mother or father taking care of children, when
I see a brokenhearted person trusting the Lord
to pull them through – it all points to
the creativity and wonderment of my God. He made
those individuals the way they are – how
amazing. I wondered “ok Lord – what
am I blessed with and what can I do for you, I
am just an average Joe? Not that I am a great
hunter or fisherman and that God blessed me with
these abilities. I need to clarify – God
blessed me with a LOVE and PASSION for hunting
and fishing and I have found that when I am in
the middle of one of these adventures –
that the Lord is right there enjoying it with
me and happy in His heart, that He has brought
joy and wonderment upon my heart. Often –
God changes my heart, instructs me, entertains
me, and speaks to me during the experience of
a hunt or while we are fishing together. The same
“breaking of the net” experience that
Peter had with the Lord when they went fishing
together, I have had many times, and I will tell
you here in a little bit about the trophy Black
Wildebeest I harvested while in South Africa.
By the way – the Wildebeest is the black
furry animal on the ground in the picture –
not the guy holding the bow.
So the next thing I know is that Terry Willis
(an assistant pastor at my church) and I, are
being picked up at the airport in Port Elizabeth,
South Africa and then a two hour drive to Grahamstown
where we stay the night at the local hunting lodge
(owned by Johan Dreyer – a Christian Professional
Hunter) and the next day were off on an 8-hour
drive via Landcruisers to Lusikisiki which is
up the coast. We go from modern airports and cities
to a beautiful coastal mountain agrarian area
with grass and mud huts – all in a manner
of hours. My prior imagination of missionary work
came from movies where Hollywood portrays missionaries
as dull, overbearing, hidden agenda, loveless
peddlers of religion. The missionaries I meet
on this trip are quite the opposite – they
are fun, loving, selfless, strong, able people
capable of enduring some discomforts, adventurous,
resourceful, exciting thrill seeker type people
– best of all they are every day kind of
people and THEY HUNT - my kind of people. Terry
and I have just spent 8 hours in the landcruiser
with Rufus Luttig and his wife Almarie. Their
children, along with their “adoptive son”
Johan Dreyer, have gone on before us and are trying
to fetch or (“Sort out” – in
English dialect/local terms) my lost luggage and
equipment that did not make it on my flight. We
finally arrive in Lusikisiki and I am happy because
I see Johan smiling with my gear in his hands
and I am comforted that I now have some changes
of underwear, almost equally as important as my
bow and hunting equipment. With the help of some
South African college students doing part time
ministry – we set up a large tent and a
film projector and for the next five nights we
show the Jesus Film (translated on the film to
the local language) to the local native people.
During the film, we have groups praying, groups
working the film, and after the film, one or two
of the group will speak through a local Christian
(native) interpreter.
I have always had a fear of public speaking and
go out of the way to avoid such events if at all
possible, but this seems a job (to me) for “the
professional missionaries” who are trained
in such things. I figure I will help in just about
any thing, setting up the tent, cooking duty,
cleaning duty, killing some camp meat, defending
the people and missionaries from any Lions or
Cape Buffalo that might be lurking about, and
just get a feel for the needs of the area, since
this is my first missionary trip. Naturally, in
the words of Job – “the thing which
I have feared the most has come upon me”
and I am asked by the missionaries to stand up
and tell the people in the tent what Jesus means
to me and why I have chosen to follow Him. Well
– here it is, there is no way out of it
– I’m surrounded by natives (literally)
and they are intensely interested in this crazy
American “white boy”, who is dressed
in camouflage, and who has come from half way
around the world, where it is still summer and
not winter – as it is this chilly night
in this foreign land with a people who I cannot
even speak their language nor understand its complicated
clicks and unusual sounds. So I do the only thing
I know to do – and that is to pray “Lord
– I’m just a white guy who likes to
hunt, and I’m representing You – the
God of this Universe, to a people who have a completely
different and challenging life than I have –
what do I tell them – I can’t tell
them what you have done for me in business, nor
what you have done for me in hunting, my life
is totally different than theirs, how can I relate
– help me oh Lord to tell them Your truth
and what You want them to hear in their hearts.”
My fears start to calm and the Lord reminds me
of the great love that I have for my precious
daughter Kendal back home and how much more He
loves us than how we love our own kids, and the
words are given to me and I tell them of how much
God loves us and how He gave up His son Jesus
so that we could have a new life on earth and
eventually live with Him in heaven. Why would
the God of this universe love us that much that
He would allow His son to die for strangers like
us – only The God of love can do that –
why – because He loves us so much –
there was no other way – He had to do it
so that we could spend eternity with Him. Imagine
that – He loves us so much that He misses
us and wants for us to be with Him in heaven forever.
Suddenly up come about 25 to 30 people who want
this Jesus to live with them in their heart, we
pray with them, tears are in my eyes and theirs
and my voice is cracking. After the prayer, there
is beautiful singing, singing for the likes I
have never heard, it is what I suppose music might
sound like when I get to heaven, and I can’t
make out the language but I know it is joyous
and I know that right in this moment, there is
glory being given to God and that there is a smile
upon His face. Later that night we hand out four
bibles written in the local native tongue to four
prominent matriarch women who will read to the
people after we are gone. One of the women looks
into my eyes with tears and a quivering lip and
hands and she brings this bible to her heart and
clutches it – for she has just received
a copy of Jesus’ words of life – the
Guy on the film she just saw. My heart breaks
in humility as I pray at that moment “Lord
– let me continually fall in love with you
as this woman just has and let me clutch my bible
as if it were a check from Ed McMahon like she
is doing – again the “average Joe
minister” is being ministered to. I could
go on and on about the things I saw during the
outreach, but this would be a much longer story.
Now I find myself, bow in hand, walking miles,
riding in a Landcruiser, walking some more and
glassing herds of Black Wildebeest, blue wildebeest,
Zebra, Impala, Giraffe, Eland, and all sorts of
strange animals, all the while mixed with wonderful
conversations about what God has done in the lives
of His people – this is my utopia or heaven
as I can imagine it – hunting with good
people, enjoying ourselves and talking about the
God we love and knowing He is right there with
us – having fun. The smells, sounds and
sights are all completely different than what
I am used to, even the plants are different. I
wonder to myself – what heaven might be
like – surely even more different and wonderful
than even this I suppose. Terry and Johan hunt
together first with me following close behind
and they spot a very nice Impala and successfully
spook it after a 30 minute stalk. An hour later
they spot a much larger, Trophy Impala and after
another 30 minute stalk Terry maneuvers and successfully
shoots a Weatherby 30-378 Magnum about 200 yards
and drops the Impala in his tracks. We do the
victory dance, thank the Lord for His provision
in this wonderful animal, shoot some photos, and
we are off looking for more game.
The next day Terry shot a very nice Black Wildebeest
and he is off to the airport to return to Albuquerque
for his Assistant Pastoring duties. I am now hunting
with my bow and make several attempts at stalking
Black Wildebeest, but am unsuccessful because
the county is somewhat open and there are too
many pairs of eyes watching at all times, so we
go back to the lodge to rest that night. The next
morning we rise early and Rufus and I pray that
God will allow for a safe hunt and possibly allow
an opportunity at a bow shot. While driving to
Rufus’ Farm we see two very large Black
Wildebeest about 1,000 yards away on the top of
a gently rolling hill and they are both looking
at us and are aware of our presence. Rufus is
almost ecstatic because of the size of these two
animals and tells me that they are very large
and probably very high up by trophy standards.
We drive out of eyesight, get out of the landcruiser
and try to circle around the animals and use the
wind to our advantage. We stalk to within about
500 yards using some pretty fair tree cover; however,
the two Wildebeast are again aware of our pursuit
and they run back up to the top of the Hill and
watch for us at their vantage point. I figure
the hunt is over because they have about 400 yards
of nothing but open grass that is no more than
a few inches high. I must admit, by this time
I am a little disappointed because I realize that
there is no possible way to get in and get a shot.
I pray and ask the Lord to bless me somehow so
I can get at least a shot and I open my eyes and
there is a herd of domestic cows walking up behind
me and to the east which are headed toward the
Wildebeasts at the top of the hill. I get in behind
them at a safe distance (in order not to spook
them because they are very spooky almost like
wild game) and I follow behind with my head and
torso down below their backs. I’m looking
at these cows and many of them look back at me
as we are moving and they seem to be quite puzzled
at why I am following them. My heart is about
to beat out of my chest because the plan seems
to be working and finally I get to within 90 yards
of the wildebeests and the cow herd starts to
split, one group to the right and one to the left,
because they don’t want to go anywhere near
the two wildebeests and they are equally afraid
of me. I peek over the back of the last remaining
cow cover I have and use my range finder to range
both the cow and the closest bull Wildebeast.
The cow is at 45 yards and the closest Wildebeast
is at 80. I think to myself there is no way I
can make this shot, but there is no time I’m
already busted and these animals are about to
bolt. I draw back, raise up and put my furthest
pin (70 yards) in the sweet spot and let her rip
and the arrow is going going going and flies right
below the bull’s chest just about cutting
the hair. The bull runs off at breakneck speed.
The other bigger bull runs off about 10-15 yards
further away and to the left and is looking about
in confusion and nervously swishing his tail and
is about to run, and my last remaining cow cover
is all but gone with the exception of the tail
end, so I quickly knock another arrow, draw down
and raise up and this time I’m standing
in the open and the Wildebeest and I are staring
at eachother and I set my 70 yard pin on the top
of his shoulder hump and let her rip. The arrow
travels through the air and is heading for the
shoulder and I get a horrible thought –
if I hit him in the shoulder it will probably
stick and he will run off with my arrow, but just
then a breeze blows in and my arrow moves about
2.5 feet to the left and hits him in the kidneys
and passes right through. There is an explosion
of red in the air and the big bull runs 200 yards
and falls over. Rufus who is hiding in the last
remaining cover about 200 yards behind me runs
over to me laughing and tells me that he knows
for absolute certain that I have found favor with
God because of the miracle that he just witnessed
with his eyes. He and I both know that our God
was giving me a great blessing and incredible
joy and that He wanted me to be happy because
of my willingness to come over to Africa with
a heart for Him and His people. Over the next
few days I shoot a very nice Impala and a trophy
Bushbuck. I am told by world class and professional
bowhunters and taxidermist that my bull Black
Wildebeest is in the top ten ever killed by bow,
very possibly the new world record and that only
about 14 have ever been taken by bow.
I remember before going to South Africa that
I went wanting to do something for God, wanting
to be a blessing to Him and to His people, and
I came back having been blessed far more than
I could have ever imagined. But that is the Heart
of my God – He is a God who almost jokingly
says – “did you really think you could
outbless Me” – “I’ve been
in the blessing business far longer than you –
its what I do – and it is to show you how
much I love you. Here I am again – the average
Joe minister – being ministered to again.
I would love to tell you more of my adventures
in South Africa, but I must get home and pack
and shoot a group of 3 arrows before dark –
for I am leaving again in less than two weeks
to go back over on another hunt and outreach and
see my dear friends again. Soon I will hear the
beautiful singing of the natives as they praise
our God and soon I will be walking and stalking
in God’s playground with my new friends
and family. Please pray for us, that God will
again do great things in the hearts of His people
and if you are interested in being part of this
ministry or simply donating funds no-matter how
small, for the hunting ministry, the bible college,
the missionaries in Lusikisiki, then please contact
Rufus Luttig at www.huntsa.com or (27 (0)83 281
0181), or myself at brianw@dominionproperty.com
or 505-878-9400. God bless you all greatly and
may you have the greatest of impact for Him in
this world.
Blessings – Brian White
|
