Cleansing Fire

6/13/07

I found out how much wood a woodchuck would chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood, because I must have chucked at least three truckloads of bamboo into a roaring fire today. The girls and I are in Chiba New Town for a Bible conference. We came a day early to hang out with the Keller’s and help Pastor Yoshida and his wife work on their new church. They got it for a great price but they’ve had to do a bunch of cleanup work around the outside of the building. From what I understand, there was a bamboo forest and a lot of thick brush on the property when they first moved in, which they promptly chopped down. So now, there are three gargantuan piles of brush and bamboo awaiting conflagration. I’m a pyromaniac; there I said it. So when I found out that Pastor Yoshida appointed me as the official “Brush Burning Coordinator” for the day, I nearly suffered a myocardial infarction. I immediately began arranging 20 foot-long bamboo shoots in the most ergonomic burning position possible and within 10 minutes I had a fire hotter than Michael Jordan in the playoffs. It got so hot in fact, that I nearly died several times. Bamboo not only burns like crazy but it also pops and explodes shooting blazing fireballs indiscriminately in every direction. The first time this occurred, I almost lost control of my bladder, but after awhile I got used to the attacks and learned to defend myself by sticking my head inside my shirt.

The insatiable fire and the searing heat reminded me of my dear friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter three whom King Nebuchadnezzar so rudely tossed into the fiery furnace. They refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue because they feared God more than man. And when they refused, the king ordered them to be thrown into the fiery furnace but first the guards were to make the furnace seven times hotter than normal. I have always wondered who was in charge of determining the hotness of the furnace and what he used to measure its temperature. How in the world could he tell if the fire was exactly seven times hotter? Did he carry around a really long thermometer that could measure extreme heat or what? Anyway, I’m not saying that my fire was as hot as the one into which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown, but I’m convinced that it was close because at one point I could actually smell my own personal flesh cooking. Yeah…and to be honest, I smelled pretty tasty.

On the way to Chiba New Town, I was able to talk with Pastor Yoshida in the car. He was telling me about the lack of missionaries and how hard it has been for he and his wife to start a church and pique people’s interest. They have been in Chiba for about 20 and haven’t seen much fruit from their labor. I know having the Keller’s here has been an encouragement. They (Mike and Sharon) have been working long hours cleaning up the church during the day and then teaching English until 10 o’clock at night. I don’t know how they do it. They’re an inspiration to me because they continue to work so hard without one complaint. Sharon even prepared a delicious dinner tonight for the girls and I, which made my tummy smile and even giggle a little bit, which was kind of embarrassing.

Anyhow, I hope all of you are doing well and thanks so much for the comments. It’s encouraging to know that people are reading the blog and praying for us while we’re gone.