And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes indeed," says the Spirit, "so that they might rest from their labors, for their works follow after them." Rev. 14:13.
Dja-Dja was the only Christian in the village of Tangouroubi. All the others continued in their ancestral worship of the spirits. To all outward appearances, her witness was totally fruitless. As old age took its toll on her body she was no longer able to attend her church, which was some distance away.
One day Dja-Dja collapsed outside her hut. Her family brought her inside. Everyone knew that the time of her death was near. According to the Lobi tradition in Burkina Faso, they cradled her in their arms to assist her passage into the next existence. They believed that by doing that they could manipulate the spirits to assure her a blessed existence in Paradise.
As Dja-Dja's family held her, she regained consciousness. Taking in the scene and its animistic implications, she blurted out, "I don't want any of you pagans touching me. I want to die in the arms of Jesus."
In amazement her family put her down and backed away. While they had often heard her speak of Jesus, they wondered how she could trust her soul to someone she couldn't even see. Her dying moments were her supreme witness. It was the ultimate denial of ancestral animism with its fearfulness and its attempts to appease the spirits. And it was the greatest testament to her faith in Jesus.
While some of Dja-Dja's family may have felt offended, her simple statement of faith in a God they could not see overshadowed the offense. They knew she was speaking from her heart in this, her greatest time of need. Jesus was real to her. He was there comforting and holding her. She was at peace, safe and secure in the arms of Jesus--and they could see that it was so. When she died in the Lord, the blessedness of such a death was evident to all.
Since Dja-Dja's death, four individuals in her village have accepted baptism in the name of Jesus. More than a dozen now meet every week to worship the God of heaven in a village where Dja-Dja's witness had appeared fruitless for so long. Her death was blessed, she rests from her labors, and her works most certainly are following after her!
Lord, the specter of death haunts every human being. We hope against hope that an exception might be made in our case, but as the years go by we increasingly realize the limitations that death places upon our lives. Today, more than ever, I need a foretaste of the blessedness You have promised in Revelation.
Dja-Dja was the only Christian in the village of Tangouroubi. All the others continued in their ancestral worship of the spirits. To all outward appearances, her witness was totally fruitless. As old age took its toll on her body she was no longer able to attend her church, which was some distance away.
One day Dja-Dja collapsed outside her hut. Her family brought her inside. Everyone knew that the time of her death was near. According to the Lobi tradition in Burkina Faso, they cradled her in their arms to assist her passage into the next existence. They believed that by doing that they could manipulate the spirits to assure her a blessed existence in Paradise.
As Dja-Dja's family held her, she regained consciousness. Taking in the scene and its animistic implications, she blurted out, "I don't want any of you pagans touching me. I want to die in the arms of Jesus."
In amazement her family put her down and backed away. While they had often heard her speak of Jesus, they wondered how she could trust her soul to someone she couldn't even see. Her dying moments were her supreme witness. It was the ultimate denial of ancestral animism with its fearfulness and its attempts to appease the spirits. And it was the greatest testament to her faith in Jesus.
While some of Dja-Dja's family may have felt offended, her simple statement of faith in a God they could not see overshadowed the offense. They knew she was speaking from her heart in this, her greatest time of need. Jesus was real to her. He was there comforting and holding her. She was at peace, safe and secure in the arms of Jesus--and they could see that it was so. When she died in the Lord, the blessedness of such a death was evident to all.
Since Dja-Dja's death, four individuals in her village have accepted baptism in the name of Jesus. More than a dozen now meet every week to worship the God of heaven in a village where Dja-Dja's witness had appeared fruitless for so long. Her death was blessed, she rests from her labors, and her works most certainly are following after her!
Lord, the specter of death haunts every human being. We hope against hope that an exception might be made in our case, but as the years go by we increasingly realize the limitations that death places upon our lives. Today, more than ever, I need a foretaste of the blessedness You have promised in Revelation.
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