COMMANDED TO GO: LUCKY’S STORY

Follow Lucky's journey from the Township where he grew up to the small island where he now serves on a missionary team.

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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

We are all commanded to go.

And I believe He was also saying it to Africans, not just to Westerners.

Being the only child, you are like their hope for a better future. Like if we ever hope to get out of the townships, this is it.

And so my parents had hoped that I would go to school, study for something other than Theology, you know? Get a proper job, you know? Other than anything that has to do with working as a pastor.

They always knew that I wanted to become a pastor. But their advice was always, “You get a stable job, make a lot of money, you know, build the house, and then you can become a pastor.” Yeah.

Yeah, I also had a desire to definitely make my life better, I'm not going to lie. You know, you look around, you're like, “Eesh... We cannot be sleeping here forever. I need to do something to get out of this situation.” It’s like, “Yes, I know, God, you have called me to be a pastor, but I want to have a job, on the side.”

But and then, during that time, I had a dream. “Hey, go to college, study theology.”

And so I was like, “Okay, this is what God wants me to do.”

And then I told my mom and that’s when, you know, all of their fears came out.

When he said he wants to go to bible school, I just say, “Lucky, you know, I don’t afford, I don’t have money to pay the school fees today. I was just earning 2,100 (Rand) per month, it was not enough at all. We had nothing. “I can’t imagine you go there, without accommodation, without food, without nothing.”

Then he said, “Mom, just release me and trust God, that He will provide.”

Three years of study, my mom didn't have to pay a penny.

I said, “Praise the Lord!” He said, “You see? I told you, just trust God. Everything is going to work out.” And it's all by God's grace.

[Apostle] Paul says that he doesn’t want to work where other people have worked. The passage was speaking to my heart at that time. And then Matilda Ntkula [AIM Missionary] came to our college and did a presentation about the work they are doing in Madagascar with AIM.

That's when I was like, “Yeah, this is it. This is what I want to do.” Why not go minister where most pastors don't want to go, you know, where there's no church?

I’m not going to lie, like, raising funds was stressful. I was panicking. Will I even have enough to go? And I remember one time, it was my birthday, I had just prayed to God, “God, I need money to go. Are you really sending me? Please show you are sending me by bringing the money. I believe you are sending me but, help my unbelief!” That was the prayer, you know. And that day Howard came, like, during worship and said, “I feel like we need to pray for Lucky.” That was really encouraging. It came at the right time, the time when I was busy stressing.

And that week, I think, I received a call from Gerhard [South African Mobilizing Director] telling me about a sponsor, you know, that had said they would cover my three years in missions.

I was like, “Oooh Jesus! Thank you, Lord! Finally I can go!”

When Africans are represented in the mission field, then it says to the people receiving the gospel that this is our, you know, our gospel too, or this is our God too, this is a religion of all people group, you know, not just the white people.

And so I don't know if this is wise to say, but I think that skin color makes a big difference. They don't have to look at the me and think of money, you know?

You have no idea how many times people presume that I am Malagasi here, until I open my mouth. They’re like, “OK, you cannot even speak Malagasi, you are not from around here.”

I think that one of the biggest challenges, especially with the African Western relationship, is that, when they see, when we see a white person, we presume, “You got it better, you know, you have money, life is good for you.” And it makes it very difficult to develop a more interpersonal relationship. You know, I think.

And so if you see someone that looks like you you just presume, “He's one of us.”

I think it's easier to listen to that person that looks like you, you know, and say, “I would like to discuss my worldview with you.”

The way the friendship started is that they wanted to learn English, you know? Like, one of the guys, they just passed by, his name is Abdul, we were just hanging, you know? Then everyone was showing off their knowledge, like, what did they know, asking questions like, “Who invented the bulb? you know?

I don't know who that is, you know, I was like, “I don't know.” They're like, you know, throwing out names. I have Internet, so I can verify and be like, “OK, this guy is right. This guy is not right"

We were busy having that conversations, you know, like they asking questions and I was like, “I have a more difficult question to ask.” “What is the purpose of life? Have you thought about that? You know, why did God create you? Like, when you make a car, you want to move around, you know? You don't want to walk. And, when you make a spoon, you want to eat with it. Whatever thing you make, you want to use it for a purpose.

You have a purpose.

And then why did God make you?

And then, from there, we spoke about God. It became a very long conversation about why God created us and where do we fit in the story and how do we respond, you know?

With God's calling, you have to calculate the cost. You know, it's going to be costly, you know, but it is from when we respond to the calling and say, “Regardless of the call, I am following you, oh God,” that God's faithfulness would be seen, you know, that he will take care of you.

Following Jesus, sometimes, it'll cost you a place to sleep, you know? And sometimes it'll cost you your families, you know, those important gatherings, family gatherings. You might not be able to go to them.

And all this just for the gospel.

And I think when I compare the worth of Jesus, you know, with all these other things, the sacrifice is worth it. I cannot describe it. There's a level of contentment that comes with being a missionary that I didn't have. Like, there's so much joy. I cannot put words to it! Yeah. I cannot quantify it, you know? And I cannot say, “Let me show you with my smile.”

I am happy! All I can say that I am content, you know, with my current situation, you know, I'm content and then I am satisfied. And there's a level of peace that comes with being here that I didn't have during the time when I was preparing to become a missionary.

I believe strongly when He said, “Go and make disciples of all the nations.” The command was also given to Africans.

This is one of the things that Africans need to obey. Reaching out to the unreached all over the world. Not just in Africa, but wherever there is a nation or people group that do not know anything about God. Africans need to go, because of what Jesus told us.

Sharing stories of God’s redemptive work all over Africa in the hopes of seeing Christ-centered, reproducing, culturally-appropriate churches formed among African Peoples.

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