Downward/Upward Trajectory

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa. Moses and Janien are moving to one of the poorest parts of Malawi. The average income is less than five cents a day. When Moses, who is from Malawi, was arranging housing there by phone recently, the owner offered some advice, “Why don’t you stay in Europe a year longer? The situation here is not good. The economy, politics, coronavirus.”

Moses replied, “What if God is calling me to be a part of the solution?”

Back in Delhi, California, a police officer was once at my home in the middle of the night. I mentioned this in my sermon on Sunday, saying that the story behind it was for another time. (Which reminds me of the time the fire department was at my home in the middle of the night, but that is yet another story). I will share that awful story behind the police coming to my home, after first sharing what the police officer told me about our town. He was a former member of the church that had sent me to Delhi. As a police officer, he knew all about the town’s problems with drugs, gangs, crime, and poverty. Now standing in my living room, the officer said, “If someone handed me the keys to a brand new house in Delhi, I would turn around and walk away. I would never live here.” I told the police officer, “That’s why I’m here.” I was reminded of this by Moses saying “What if God is calling me to be a part of the solution?”

This way of thinking makes no sense to many people. You move to the place that has the most jobs, that has the most advanced health care, the best education. That is what draws many people to the countries of Europe and North America. For good reason, their home countries are struggling. So people in Malawi don’t understand why a man from Malawi and a woman from the Netherlands would move from Europe to the poorest part of one of the poorest countries. That looks like a downward trajectory. Don’t they know about the poverty, the lack of health care, the struggling education system, plus the current problems with COVID and politics? Of course. “But what if God is calling me to be a part of the solution?”

This way of thinking makes perfect sense to someone who knows Jesus Christ, because this is literally Jesus Christ’s way of thinking. We are told to “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus,” then we are told what his way of thinking was. Jesus, “being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage, but made himself nothing” (Philippians 2:6-8). As God, emptied himself to become human. As human, Jesus humbled himself to become a servant, to suffer, and die. “He became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” Jesus chose a downward trajectory. All the way to death on a cross.

To be a Christian is to share the mind of Christ. You may not be called to go and serve the people of Malawi in person. You may not be called to go anywhere. But you are called to love and serve. You are called to put others above yourself, to sacrifice yourself for others. You are called to give up your life, as Jesus himself said to those who wanted to follow him. This is the way God has loved you. This is what it looks like to follow the model of Christ our Lord: to give up our lives, and so receive them back eternally. Other immigrants to Europe support projects taking care of orphans, drilling wells, or providing clothing back in their home countries. If they have found advantages from their life in Europe, they realize the importance of using that advantage for the sake of others.

Jesus’ downward trajectory didn’t end in tragedy. The tragedy was turned into the greatest triumph. Because of his humility, he was “exalted to the highest place and given the name above all names.” The downward trajectory was upward trajectory. There is hope and joy in our sacrifice of love.

So why were the police at my house in the middle of the night? I got a call around midnight from a man saying he needed to talk. “I think I just killed my son,” he said. “Okay,” I said. “Meet me at my office.” He said he knew where it was. It was a small town. He had my phone number, which was posted on the office door.

The call was shocking, of course. I didn’t think it was for real, but it was possible. I called the police and explained. “You know what happened a few weeks ago,’ they said. “It could be for real.” What had happened a few weeks earlier was that a man beat his two-year-old son to death in a field by the side of the road. A sheriff’s helicopter dropped a deputy nearby. He rushed toward the man with his gun drawn. The father raised his middle finger and continued kicking the boy. The officer fired one shot and it was over. Father and son were both dead. The town was horrified. He must have been on drugs, everyone thought. That would help explain such an incomprehensible act of evil. The result of the toxicology report was even more horrifying: there was no trace of drugs. What was wrong with this man then? A witness said the father spoke about demons in his son. There were no drugs. There may have been demons, but not in the boy.

So when I got a call from a man saying that he thought he had killed his son and wanted to talk, the police took it seriously. They sent an unmarked car to park near my office. Either it was for real, or someone was just messing with the pastor, or someone wanted to harm me. While I drove over to my office, I said, “God, I am willing to give my life for Delhi.” Thankfully, I didn’t have to. It was just someone messing with the pastor. It wasn’t the only time. Sometimes it was more physical than a phone call.

Back at our house, the police officer took a report. “What time did you get the two phone calls?” he asked. They had called again a little later, with a slightly different story. I got out my phone to check. The record of the calls had been on my phone before, but now the calls were simply gone. “They can’t get in and change your phone,” the officer said. I don’t know how it happened, but I swear it’s true.

The police officer dealt with situations everyday that were much more real than this one. Maybe he was involved in the incident of a few weeks earlier. You get an idea of why he said he would never live in Delhi. There are so many places in the world facing worse problems than all of this. “But what if God is calling me to be part of the solution?” Certainly, he is calling all of us to share the mindset of Jesus Christ. He is calling Moses and Janien to live alongside those who live on less than five cents a day.

You can find more information about One Hope Malawi here (in Dutch, though Moses speaks fluent English. Check back soon for an English version).

You can watch the worship service where we commissioned Moses and Janien for their work here.

You can find more about the mindset of Jesus Christ here.