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Links:
- Learn about Jonathan Stone here.
- Video: After the Simbas: A New Song in Congo
- Reflection Song For Your Prayer Time
- Video: Why We Do It
Quotes:
Jonathan
- “People have connected with this message and found places in their life where they are needing to deal with this issue of forgiveness, whether they’re the recipient or the one that needs to give it. This is something that the Bible is clear about that we need to do, but in practice it’s not easy.”
- “Yet he died for us anyway, while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us living in Myanmar. We can relate to that helpless feeling of others doing horrible things without justice being served. And the question I put to my heart, the question my local church has put to our hearts is do we have what it takes to forgive the way that Jesus did in his final moments?”
- “This is a story of forgiveness. Canadian missionary Hector McMillan took his wife and six sons to serve in the Belgian Congo.”
- “Congo at that time was going through political unrest, and those in control began to use military force to enact their power. The Congo rebels call themselves the Simba’s in Swahili. Simba means lion. They were influenced by superstitions and charms, and they were funded by bigger, more powerful nations. They used narcotics that enabled them to have the power to kill people.”
- “In July, the situation got worse and missionary families were stuck when communications were cut off. For the next four months, they continued to praise God and he provided for them through the hard times.”
- “While the family nursed Ken’s wound and were numb with the shock of Hector’s death, Ken broke the silence. ‘Mom, can we come back one day and continue the work that Dad started?‘”
- “The emotions poured out when they realized they would have to leave their dad’s lifeless body behind. ‘Don’t cry,’ Ione, Hector’s widow said to her boys, ‘You boys should count it a privilege to give your father to the Lord Jesus and the work of the Gospel in Congo.'”
- “When we are asked to forgive, it’s important to understand what it is. Some may confuse forgiveness with reconciliation and restored trust. All are noble causes to which we should aspire, but only one is something that we can fully obey on our own.”
- “And Ken told me this story in great detail, and I followed on his life’s journey and being a missionary, and I followed his example to live a life of forgiveness like he humbly demonstrates every day.”
- “I know for me; it’s been it’s hard to do something unless you’ve seen it modeled. I think forgiveness is one of those things.”
- “So, I would invite all of you to pray to note down some things, to pray specifically for Myanmar, for Congo, for our nations in crisis around the world. Pray that the people in these nations would embrace Jesus. His final words, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.'”
Ken
- “When my dad died, the first thing that occurred to me was that he (God) is my father now and mother and my five younger brothers. We all just adopted that that link that that God was our father and whatever he did was good. And so, we just followed suit. Five of the six boys became missionaries.”
- “And then what came afterward, of course, was going back to Congo as a doctor and realizing that that is part of the forgiveness, too. I did not care really who I was taking care of as a as a doctor. It could have been him. It could have been his brother. It could have been any of the soldiers there. In fact, I did take care of soldiers. So, they were coming to me for care. And that was my gift to them as a people in Congo to help them medically. So, I guess forgiveness does wonderful things in your heart, whether you reconcile or not. It gave me the trust that I needed to know that God was in charge.”
- “So, we just realize that God puts his children through trauma so he can help, so we can help others that are experiencing the same thing.