For many people, one of their life long dreams is to take a safari in Africa. On my first mission trip to Africa, I was fortunate enough to get to experience a safari, something I did not expect, just a really nice bonus, icing on the cake. What was even more of a surprise than the safari itself, was the miracle God did on the safari.
I must admit that I didn't rough it much on my first trip to Africa. Actually it was a planning trip for my first mission to Kenya, leading a group from Grace Point along with a team from Houston Northwest Baptist. But God taught me an amazing lesson on the trip, experiencing what I consider a miracle and encouraged me that I was on the right course and in his will.
I had recently taken the missions pastor position at Grace Point in San Antonio, moving from Hyde Park in Austin where I'd spent 20 years on staff. I had to fill some high expectations as it was Grace Point's vision that everyone in the church go global at least once in five years. So our first trip to Africa needed to be a success to give us some momentum.
I traveled to Africa with Pastor Dwight Davis from Houston Northwest Baptist. We stayed in a 3 bedroom lodge at a large national park in South Africa north of Johannesburg. We were joined by two other pastors from Africa, one from Kenya and the other from South Africa and we spent three days planning our mission trip and how we were to help an orphanage in Kenya.
On the second day we got to experience a picture safari, no guns on this trip. So we loaded up in a Range Rover which had three bench seats, open air for great viewing of the amazing creatures.
The three other pastors jumped in the top row, which left me to sit on the second row with a couple I didn't know, a mother and son from Scotland. The son was about 30 years of age and this was their dream vacation that they had been planning for years. And the safari was the highlight of this trip of a lifetime.
We took off and made our way through the park stopping to see zebras, giraffe, rhinos and all sorts of animals and birds. Near the end of the trip we pulled up along side of a mother lion and her cubs, which were just off the road about 15 yards away. We were instructed to stay in the vehicle and not to make any sudden moves. We were very exposed, with no top to the Range Rover, so it was an exhilarating, yet unnerving experience.
During the safari which was about two hours long, I got to know the couple beside me. I talked mostly with the son and soon found out that he had become a Mormon about two years earlier. I asked him questions about his faith and then shared what some of the differences were between my Christian faith and Mormonism. I told him the biggest difference was that Mormon's believed you had to earn your way to heaven. Their faith was like most all religions in that it was based on works. Where the true Christian faith is based not on works but on God's grace as I shared from Ephesians 2:8-9.
He readily agreed with my assessment of the Mormon faith, saying he could see that they were very strict about following rules that would lead you to salvation which was what he didn't like about the religion.
I'm not sure how it happened, but by the end of the safari this Scottish Mormon wanted to accept Jesus Christ and be freed from the rules and legalism he was experiencing. He prayed to receive Christ and agreed to meet with us again the next day.
I just couldn't believe what had happened. Here we were experiencing a trip of a life time and this young man was receiving a gift of eternity! Even on a trip when all of your attention should have been on these incredible animals, I was far more interested in sharing the living water with this man and what was more incredible was that he was not distracted by the beautiful scenery or the amazing animals.
But God was about to do more. This new believer came to our lodge the following day and we talked some more about his new faith and encouraged him. The lodge had a small swimming pool on the porch. It was smaller than a lap pool and just a little larger than a whirl pool sauna. Almost like a large baptismal, provided just for occasions like this. I baptized him in the pool and we prayed with him and his new life in Christ. What was also amazing was that Dwight Davis had brought one book to read on the trip, thrown into his suitcase as an after thought. It was The God Makers, a book about the Mormon church and what they really believe. Dwight said he didn't know at the time why he brought the book along, but does now.
This experience really encouraged me as I could see God's hand directing me to follow Him. It was an affirmation that I was in the right place and God would provide me many more opportunities, adventures and miracles along the way. For the former Mormon, he and his mother came to South Africa to experience God's wonderful creation and in addition got to experience God for eternity!
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