Post by Get off of TMB on Mar 28, 2020 16:50:33 GMT -5
Debra Jones, West Africa
Knowing that I just returned from West Africa, people often asked me, "What did you see in West Africa. Did you see tigers?" "Yes, I saw tigers." "Did you see lions?" "Yes, I saw lions." "Did you see monkeys?" "Yes, I saw monkeys." "Did you see snakes?" "Yes, I saw snakes." "Did you get close to them?" "Yes, I got close to them." "Were you afraid?" "No, I was not afraid, they were in cages and I was outside. As long as they stayed in their cages, I didn't need to be afraid, as long as I stayed in my place outside the cage."
There is a little thought I would like to leave with all of you tonight. God has a place for all of us, and it is good when we find our place, and know our place and keep our place. In the very beginning, it was God's goal to put things in their proper place. In creation even, before He worked, things were without form and void. And before God works in a human life, there is a great void. That is not God's order. When He created man, not only did He create them man and woman, but He gave them a place. He placed them in a garden. One day God took a little walk in the garden and He decided to walk over to Adam and Eve and see how they were doing. They weren't where He had placed them and He had to ask, "Where art thou, Adam?" God is still walking in this world, and maybe He will decide to go where we ought to be and He doesn't find us where He placed us, and a question comes, "Where art thou?" Not where we ought to be. Well, a little game of hide-and-seek started. That is not just something that we played as children, but Adam and Eve hid themselves and they had to be sought. People are still leaving their places and trying to hide because of their sin, and God is still seeking them out. I am glad that God is still seeking. When I think of my own life, my own experience, it was kind of like that too. Sin comes in, God seeks, and hope is given again. Provision was made for Adam and Eve, and hope was given again; a life was given, a sacrifice made, and hope restored. There is still provision for us to be cleansed and forgiven for our sin.
If I gave my testimony, I would have to say a testimony starts from the beginning, just like the creation, God's work started from the beginning. My mother was part of a great family, and when she was just 17 years old, she went to live with her sister in the city so that she could get further education. Her parents thought that was best, rather than for her to stay in the country. It was in that city, going to school, that she met my father, and then I came along. They were not married and those days it was a scandalous thing, shameful to the family, shameful to herself, shameful to all of us. Sin had come in. What to do now? "Let's hide it!" From the Grandparents, first of all. And so her sister didn't tell the Grandparents, and my mother and father being so young, decided to give this child out for adoption. Then Papa and Mama wouldn't know and my father could continue his education and my mother could go away somewhere, and so they did. I was adopted by a family that had no children, and was with them for almost a year. My Grandparents came to the city to visit their children, and Grandfather (Papa) said, "We have heard a rumor that our youngest daughter had a baby. Where is that baby?" And they said to him that they gave it away to a couple that had no children. My Grandfather was furious, and he said, "I will go to those people and will redeem that child, she is mine, she is ours, and we will pay to get her back. I will not have my flesh and blood to be given away to strangers." He went to that couple and talked with them, and they said, "We understand." He paid them for all they had spent, and for all they had bought, and more. That is how I returned to the Jones family. My Grandparents were old but they cared for me. They were very God-fearing Grandparents, and my mother was outraged that her mistake was brought home again. She left, and very seldom did I see her as I grew up. My Grandparents read their bible and searched for God and longed for God.
I would sit with them, and they would tell me about God too. Grandfather would take me for walks, and I would ask, "Who made the birds?" And he would say, "God made them." "Who made the clouds?" "God did." "Who made the pretty flowers?" And he would say, "God made them, and He made you too." I knew God must be a wonderful God if He could create all that beauty. We loved to sing, and we would sing church hymns together. He would tell me all he could about God. One day he realized that at three years old I would have some lonely moments, and he said, "If you live for God and you cling to Him, He will be a father to you, He will be a mother and sister and brother to you, you will not need to fear." We went to church, we went to many churches. My Grandmother stopped going. I would go with my Grandfather to different churches each Sunday. I would think, "This is a nice one." But he would say, "We are still lost, this is not it yet." He would ask the preachers, "Why can't we serve and worship God like in bible days?" And the preachers would say, "Times are modern, they have changed, and customs have changed. Things are modern, and we must be modern now." And my Grandfather would say, "My bible says Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever." We were a very religious family but we were a very worldly family too. I hated the parties with a passion. We would decorate the house, and set out flowers and the best dishes, wax the floors and polish them, and bake and cook my Grandfather was generous and made everyone welcome. Before the evening was over, there would be fighting and arguing. I would crawl under the kitchen table when the parties were going on and I would think, "Lord, let me die." Everything we had done would be undone, and we had to clean up the mess, and there was lots of it.
My Grandfather said, "I may not live to see it, but there is a way that is in the earth where God's people worship Him in simplicity, like we have prayed for, and it will come. Keep looking for it, it will come." And then that day came. I was five years old and two sister workers came to our door. They were strangers to us and my Aunt questioned them. And she said, "I think this is what Papa has been telling us about." And she asked if they would have a meeting which they did. I was sitting on Grandfather's knee in the meeting. When the first sister worker spoke, my Grandfather cried. I wondered why he was crying. When the meeting was over my Grandfather said, "I have searched for this for over forty years, I have prayed for this, I thought I would die before it came. I would be less than a man if I didn't accept it. I accept it." The workers had a month of meetings and 22 of our relatives professed. No more parties, no more fighting, no more arguing in our home. I was happy. When my brothers came to visit him, my Grandfather would say, "You can come in, but leave your cigarettes outside." Another would come and he would say, "You can come in, but leave your bottle outside." They would say, "We are your flesh and blood and we love you." Grandfather would say, "I am not serving flesh and blood any more. I love you, but I love God more." They didn't come very much after that.
We went to convention a few months afterwards, and it was a wonderful thing. This truth that came to our home was the most glorious thing that ever came into our lives. I don't remember the workers, don't remember the meetings, but I remember the change. Just wonderful peace and joy. God brought us into the fellowship of decent people, the most wonderful people, better than any flesh and blood could have been. My Grandfather said, "It is the God of Heaven I am trying to please now, no flesh and blood am I trying to please." I knew that my Grandparent’s choice was not my choice. Though I went to meetings and sang and listened to them read and pray, I knew that the choice they had made wasn't my choice. It
wasn't for me, it was for them. Then I had a dream and it is still so very real to me today. I saw people going up a ladder to Heaven, and my Grandparents were going up the ladder. I was at the bottom looking up at them. Everything was on fire around me, I was on fire, and the devil had me by the hand and said. "Don't worry little girl, I will look after you." I didn't want him to look after me! I knew that! I woke up. After that I felt I had to make my choice. So when the workers came to visit again, I knew I had to talk to them about it. The older sister worker could be so kind, but could also be harsh. One morning I crept into their bedroom and they were praying. I'd pushed the door open quietly, and I was crying and I was scared. She said, "What do you want? What did you come into my room for, why are you crying?" I said, "I want to make my choice." She said, "You are too young, this is no child's play. You can't read, you can't write.” I said, "Grandfather can read to me and I can listen and God will show me what verses are for me. I will soon be going to school and I will learn to read and write. Then I can write to the workers." She told me I could make my choice. I was about six years old. My Grandparents read to me. I would sit between them and they read, and they read and read! I soon started to school and I put forth such an effort to learn to read and write. Then my Grandfather went blind and I read to him.
One time when the workers came to visit, they were asking the children what we were going to be when we grew up. I was shy so stayed back and was last. One by one my cousins were asked and they would say, "I am going to get married and have a home and have room for the workers." And the workers would say, "That is very nice, to have a home for the workers to stay." But I thought, "These workers are getting pretty old, so who will fill all those rooms that my cousins are going to have for the workers?" So when my turn came, I said, "I am going to be a worker."
One day I was playing with my little friend Ethel and she let me play with her doll. She let me take it home for the day and I told her I would bring it back that night. Grandfather asked me where I got the doll, so I told him and that I was going to take it back to her at the end of the day. The day went on, and it was getting dark and Grandfather said, "I thought you were going to take the doll back." I said, "Oh, it is dark now, Ethel won't mind if I keep it until tomorrow." He said, "When you make a promise, you must keep it. A man is only as good as his word, so you must take it back tonight." I was afraid of the dark but I had to go. I am sure he followed me, but I didn't know it. Then I got to thinking, you make a promise, you must keep it. I promised to be a worker! A worker's life would be boring. I was walking to the store to get some bread, I was talking to God, I often talked to God. I said, "I made a mistake. I shouldn't have said I'm going to be a worker." Coming home from the store there had been an accident, a lot of people standing around the injured ones, some bleeding. The police asked, "Is there any one here that speaks French? These people are French." So I thought, "French! there must be a whole nation that speaks French. I will be a French worker." Not long after that at school it was announced that our school had been chosen to have a teacher that would teach French. I was so thrilled, and I studied French with such zeal and I loved it. I was the only one in the school that did, and I did well at it. My Grandfather died when I was ten. He always told me to cling to God, and He would make a way. When I was 15, my mother came and that night I was getting ready to go to a gospel meeting. She said, "Won't you stay with me, Debbie? Prove to me that you love me." I said, "I didn't have your love when I needed it most but God cared for me. I can't let God down and I must go to the meeting. I love you, but I love God more." When I was twenty I went into the work in the States. Three years later, I went to the French West Indies, then back to the States, and then to West Africa. And now I'm here! When in Africa, word came that my mother had died. That night after we went to bed I wasn't sleeping. That was in 1986 and Beverley Thompson was my coworker. She said, "Debbie, are you crying?" I said, "There is a little girl inside me crying for the mother she never had, that never cared." Beverley said with her arm around me, "I want you to know that I care." Don't be ashamed to tell your children about God. The greatest gift you can give to your children, your grandchildren is to tell them about God. This work of God is a wonderful thing, this family through the whole world. We appreciate you, we need you. This is the provision of God, this caring family. Don't underestimate God's provision. He made it for Adam and Eve, He made it for the man half dead. He can mak
Knowing that I just returned from West Africa, people often asked me, "What did you see in West Africa. Did you see tigers?" "Yes, I saw tigers." "Did you see lions?" "Yes, I saw lions." "Did you see monkeys?" "Yes, I saw monkeys." "Did you see snakes?" "Yes, I saw snakes." "Did you get close to them?" "Yes, I got close to them." "Were you afraid?" "No, I was not afraid, they were in cages and I was outside. As long as they stayed in their cages, I didn't need to be afraid, as long as I stayed in my place outside the cage."
There is a little thought I would like to leave with all of you tonight. God has a place for all of us, and it is good when we find our place, and know our place and keep our place. In the very beginning, it was God's goal to put things in their proper place. In creation even, before He worked, things were without form and void. And before God works in a human life, there is a great void. That is not God's order. When He created man, not only did He create them man and woman, but He gave them a place. He placed them in a garden. One day God took a little walk in the garden and He decided to walk over to Adam and Eve and see how they were doing. They weren't where He had placed them and He had to ask, "Where art thou, Adam?" God is still walking in this world, and maybe He will decide to go where we ought to be and He doesn't find us where He placed us, and a question comes, "Where art thou?" Not where we ought to be. Well, a little game of hide-and-seek started. That is not just something that we played as children, but Adam and Eve hid themselves and they had to be sought. People are still leaving their places and trying to hide because of their sin, and God is still seeking them out. I am glad that God is still seeking. When I think of my own life, my own experience, it was kind of like that too. Sin comes in, God seeks, and hope is given again. Provision was made for Adam and Eve, and hope was given again; a life was given, a sacrifice made, and hope restored. There is still provision for us to be cleansed and forgiven for our sin.
If I gave my testimony, I would have to say a testimony starts from the beginning, just like the creation, God's work started from the beginning. My mother was part of a great family, and when she was just 17 years old, she went to live with her sister in the city so that she could get further education. Her parents thought that was best, rather than for her to stay in the country. It was in that city, going to school, that she met my father, and then I came along. They were not married and those days it was a scandalous thing, shameful to the family, shameful to herself, shameful to all of us. Sin had come in. What to do now? "Let's hide it!" From the Grandparents, first of all. And so her sister didn't tell the Grandparents, and my mother and father being so young, decided to give this child out for adoption. Then Papa and Mama wouldn't know and my father could continue his education and my mother could go away somewhere, and so they did. I was adopted by a family that had no children, and was with them for almost a year. My Grandparents came to the city to visit their children, and Grandfather (Papa) said, "We have heard a rumor that our youngest daughter had a baby. Where is that baby?" And they said to him that they gave it away to a couple that had no children. My Grandfather was furious, and he said, "I will go to those people and will redeem that child, she is mine, she is ours, and we will pay to get her back. I will not have my flesh and blood to be given away to strangers." He went to that couple and talked with them, and they said, "We understand." He paid them for all they had spent, and for all they had bought, and more. That is how I returned to the Jones family. My Grandparents were old but they cared for me. They were very God-fearing Grandparents, and my mother was outraged that her mistake was brought home again. She left, and very seldom did I see her as I grew up. My Grandparents read their bible and searched for God and longed for God.
I would sit with them, and they would tell me about God too. Grandfather would take me for walks, and I would ask, "Who made the birds?" And he would say, "God made them." "Who made the clouds?" "God did." "Who made the pretty flowers?" And he would say, "God made them, and He made you too." I knew God must be a wonderful God if He could create all that beauty. We loved to sing, and we would sing church hymns together. He would tell me all he could about God. One day he realized that at three years old I would have some lonely moments, and he said, "If you live for God and you cling to Him, He will be a father to you, He will be a mother and sister and brother to you, you will not need to fear." We went to church, we went to many churches. My Grandmother stopped going. I would go with my Grandfather to different churches each Sunday. I would think, "This is a nice one." But he would say, "We are still lost, this is not it yet." He would ask the preachers, "Why can't we serve and worship God like in bible days?" And the preachers would say, "Times are modern, they have changed, and customs have changed. Things are modern, and we must be modern now." And my Grandfather would say, "My bible says Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever." We were a very religious family but we were a very worldly family too. I hated the parties with a passion. We would decorate the house, and set out flowers and the best dishes, wax the floors and polish them, and bake and cook my Grandfather was generous and made everyone welcome. Before the evening was over, there would be fighting and arguing. I would crawl under the kitchen table when the parties were going on and I would think, "Lord, let me die." Everything we had done would be undone, and we had to clean up the mess, and there was lots of it.
My Grandfather said, "I may not live to see it, but there is a way that is in the earth where God's people worship Him in simplicity, like we have prayed for, and it will come. Keep looking for it, it will come." And then that day came. I was five years old and two sister workers came to our door. They were strangers to us and my Aunt questioned them. And she said, "I think this is what Papa has been telling us about." And she asked if they would have a meeting which they did. I was sitting on Grandfather's knee in the meeting. When the first sister worker spoke, my Grandfather cried. I wondered why he was crying. When the meeting was over my Grandfather said, "I have searched for this for over forty years, I have prayed for this, I thought I would die before it came. I would be less than a man if I didn't accept it. I accept it." The workers had a month of meetings and 22 of our relatives professed. No more parties, no more fighting, no more arguing in our home. I was happy. When my brothers came to visit him, my Grandfather would say, "You can come in, but leave your cigarettes outside." Another would come and he would say, "You can come in, but leave your bottle outside." They would say, "We are your flesh and blood and we love you." Grandfather would say, "I am not serving flesh and blood any more. I love you, but I love God more." They didn't come very much after that.
We went to convention a few months afterwards, and it was a wonderful thing. This truth that came to our home was the most glorious thing that ever came into our lives. I don't remember the workers, don't remember the meetings, but I remember the change. Just wonderful peace and joy. God brought us into the fellowship of decent people, the most wonderful people, better than any flesh and blood could have been. My Grandfather said, "It is the God of Heaven I am trying to please now, no flesh and blood am I trying to please." I knew that my Grandparent’s choice was not my choice. Though I went to meetings and sang and listened to them read and pray, I knew that the choice they had made wasn't my choice. It
wasn't for me, it was for them. Then I had a dream and it is still so very real to me today. I saw people going up a ladder to Heaven, and my Grandparents were going up the ladder. I was at the bottom looking up at them. Everything was on fire around me, I was on fire, and the devil had me by the hand and said. "Don't worry little girl, I will look after you." I didn't want him to look after me! I knew that! I woke up. After that I felt I had to make my choice. So when the workers came to visit again, I knew I had to talk to them about it. The older sister worker could be so kind, but could also be harsh. One morning I crept into their bedroom and they were praying. I'd pushed the door open quietly, and I was crying and I was scared. She said, "What do you want? What did you come into my room for, why are you crying?" I said, "I want to make my choice." She said, "You are too young, this is no child's play. You can't read, you can't write.” I said, "Grandfather can read to me and I can listen and God will show me what verses are for me. I will soon be going to school and I will learn to read and write. Then I can write to the workers." She told me I could make my choice. I was about six years old. My Grandparents read to me. I would sit between them and they read, and they read and read! I soon started to school and I put forth such an effort to learn to read and write. Then my Grandfather went blind and I read to him.
One time when the workers came to visit, they were asking the children what we were going to be when we grew up. I was shy so stayed back and was last. One by one my cousins were asked and they would say, "I am going to get married and have a home and have room for the workers." And the workers would say, "That is very nice, to have a home for the workers to stay." But I thought, "These workers are getting pretty old, so who will fill all those rooms that my cousins are going to have for the workers?" So when my turn came, I said, "I am going to be a worker."
One day I was playing with my little friend Ethel and she let me play with her doll. She let me take it home for the day and I told her I would bring it back that night. Grandfather asked me where I got the doll, so I told him and that I was going to take it back to her at the end of the day. The day went on, and it was getting dark and Grandfather said, "I thought you were going to take the doll back." I said, "Oh, it is dark now, Ethel won't mind if I keep it until tomorrow." He said, "When you make a promise, you must keep it. A man is only as good as his word, so you must take it back tonight." I was afraid of the dark but I had to go. I am sure he followed me, but I didn't know it. Then I got to thinking, you make a promise, you must keep it. I promised to be a worker! A worker's life would be boring. I was walking to the store to get some bread, I was talking to God, I often talked to God. I said, "I made a mistake. I shouldn't have said I'm going to be a worker." Coming home from the store there had been an accident, a lot of people standing around the injured ones, some bleeding. The police asked, "Is there any one here that speaks French? These people are French." So I thought, "French! there must be a whole nation that speaks French. I will be a French worker." Not long after that at school it was announced that our school had been chosen to have a teacher that would teach French. I was so thrilled, and I studied French with such zeal and I loved it. I was the only one in the school that did, and I did well at it. My Grandfather died when I was ten. He always told me to cling to God, and He would make a way. When I was 15, my mother came and that night I was getting ready to go to a gospel meeting. She said, "Won't you stay with me, Debbie? Prove to me that you love me." I said, "I didn't have your love when I needed it most but God cared for me. I can't let God down and I must go to the meeting. I love you, but I love God more." When I was twenty I went into the work in the States. Three years later, I went to the French West Indies, then back to the States, and then to West Africa. And now I'm here! When in Africa, word came that my mother had died. That night after we went to bed I wasn't sleeping. That was in 1986 and Beverley Thompson was my coworker. She said, "Debbie, are you crying?" I said, "There is a little girl inside me crying for the mother she never had, that never cared." Beverley said with her arm around me, "I want you to know that I care." Don't be ashamed to tell your children about God. The greatest gift you can give to your children, your grandchildren is to tell them about God. This work of God is a wonderful thing, this family through the whole world. We appreciate you, we need you. This is the provision of God, this caring family. Don't underestimate God's provision. He made it for Adam and Eve, He made it for the man half dead. He can mak