Silence is God's First Language

I leave for Africa at the end of this week and will spend the month of April in Burkina Faso, Benin, and Egypt. The first half of my trip will be in French-speaking countries, and the last half will be in an Arabic-speaking country. While I can understand and speak some French (thanks to my Canadian upbringing), I will be hopelessly lost in Egypt.

Most people I meet in Africa can speak a minimum of three languages: usually their tribal language, the trade language, and English.  They ask me how many I can speak, and I (shamefully) admit, "One." I then joke that if you speak three languages, you are tri-lingual; if you speak two languages, you are bi-lingual; and if you speak one language, you are American.  What a luxury to travel around the world and, more often than not, find someone who can speak English.  Even if English is not the official language in airports worldwide, the signs are in English.  For most people in the world, that is a luxury they do not experience.

Thankfully, we don't need to learn another language to communicate with God. St. John of the Cross says, "Silence is God's first language." And we can all speak silence.  

Or can we?

If you know other languages, your first language comes naturally, almost without thinking.  It is comfortable and familiar.  You often think in that language. You hardly struggle over words in that language.  You usually don't even know that language's formal "rules" because you learned it as a child, simply by listening. 

Silence is God's first language.  God's language transcends words and can be expressed and experienced best in silence.

Yet too often, even in prayer, which is supposed to be a conversation or a dialogue, we fill up the space with words.  When there is a pause or a silence in a group prayer, we often feel uncomfortable and seek to fill the gap.  

How difficult it is to be silent!  How often does God wish we would be quiet so that He could get a word edgewise?

The Quaker spiritual writer Richard Foster said that the tools of the devil are muchness, manyness, noise, crowds, and hurry.  This is too true.

We live in a world of constant notifications that prevent us from being silent.  There are many demands, which are difficult to tune out, even if our phones are off.  

Some of us live in the past, others in the future, and not many in the present.

We "know" it in our heads, but we don't "know" it (i.e., do it) daily.

Father Thomas Keating talks about three levels of awareness, captured in this picture.  We spend 95% of our time in "ordinary awareness" as we think and plan.  But we have opportunities to spend time in "spiritual awareness," where we become aware of something bigger than ourselves, something that moves us, like a birth, a sunset, a rainbow, and participating in church communion.  But we can go even further into a "divine awareness," where we become aware that God dwells within us, and we can have an intimate relationship with Him.  We must "turn off" our ordinary awareness to reach spiritual or divine awareness.  And that takes effort and practice.  

During my recent silent retreat, I spent time with Ephesians 3:16-19, which says, "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (emphasis added).

May God help us have the courage to turn off ordinary awareness and tap into our spiritual and divine awareness, a fantastic gift from the Father to His children!

When Government Support Fades: The Church’s Role in Global Aid

Last week, I wrote about DML's emphasis on agriculture this year, and how many programs teaching people how to farm have been cut due to the elimination of USAID. Of course, it is not just agriculture; thousands of other programs that have helped the alien, widow, the orphan, and the poor have been cut across the board.  

Many Christians say it's time we stop relying on the government and that the church must step up.  Unfortunately, that might not be easy.  Richard Stearns of World Vision recently wrote, "Christians in the US give about one-tenth of one percent (0.001) of their incomes to help people in other countries.  To replace the $40 billion dollars that was spent on humanitarian aid through USAID, Christians would have to quadruple their giving."  Other sources state that 90% of the money that is received by the local church stays in the local church.  Stearns went on to say that "governments can do things at a scale that individuals and churches simply can't...it's naive to think that private giving can replace what is lost." (From his post on LinkedIn.)

Regardless of how you feel about the cuts, a gap now exists.  

Proverbs 31:8-9 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” 

This is a theme throughout Scripture. We are to care for the poor and needy, to defend their rights, especially those with power.  But it's difficult to know how to do so in these changing times. I want to join many others who say that one step in action is to give generously.

Knowing where to send support is also a challenge if God is calling you to respond in this way. While some of USAID's activities related to relief efforts (e.g., responding to a crisis), a significant amount also went to development.

The book, When Helping Hurts, says this:

“We…believe that individuals and churches that have been blessed with financial resources…should dramatically increase their financial giving to churches and ministries that pursue gospel-focused, asset-based, participatory development. The churches and ministries that are engaged in development work have a very difficult time raising the funds needed to pay for this highly relational, time-intensive approach.” — When Helping Hurts

Gospel-focused, asset-based, participatory development.  I think those are key words to think about as we consider where to send financial support:

• Gospel-focused - the whole Gospel, fulfilling all of the parts of the Great Commission, which includes "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded."  This takes time and intentionality and is at the heart of making disciples, who can then make disciples, who can then make disciples.
• Asset-based - looking at communities from an asset perspective rather than need-based.  What is God already doing in this place?  Who are the people who live here who are already leaders?  God is sovereign, and there is no place that we need to bring Him.  But we must ask how we can join Him in whatever He is already doing.
• Participatory development - So much development has failed due to a needs-based approach, as people have "parachuted" into doing something that made them feel good, but it didn't meet the needs of the people who live in that place.  Without local ownership, the initiative will die almost as soon as you leave.  Having local participation in the work is critical.

While we can lament the loss of assistance that many are experiencing worldwide, we can consider how God might call us to respond now.  

Lament, yes.  But let's act as well.

Hungry Farmers: A Contradiction?

If you received our annual report, you will have seen that we declared this year the Year of Youth Entrepreneurship and Agriculture (YEA 2025!).

Why has DML decided to focus on farmers in 2025? I’m glad you asked!

Farmers are the majority of those served through DML, even for those who are formally employed by the government, education, or business.  Many are subsistence farms, growing enough to feed a family for a portion of the year.  However, too many farmers cannot produce enough for their families.  Many have told me they do farming as a hobby, which keeps them busy (no food for lazy man, they say) because there is no profit.  They are lucky if they break even.  Often, they don’t.  So they get capital injections from family members now and then to get their seed and fertilizer; or they take a loan and have a tough time paying it back.

Hungry farmers.  It should be an oxymoron.  How can the food providers be hungry? Yet it is true. Smallholder farmers are often the hungriest people on earth.

According to the book, The Last Hunger Season, by Roger Thurow, the sharing of new farming advances was derailed before it reached farmers in rural areas of Africa, judging that those who had farms less than five acres in size were too poor and remote for attention. While US farmers are heavily supported by the government, producing vast stockpiles of food shipped as aid if needed, smallholder farmers in other parts of the world have lagged behind in terms of technologies, infrastructure, and financial incentives that are common elsewhere. The hybrid seeds that were available in the US as early as the 1930s are only now beginning to spread in the majority world.  Only 4% of African farmland is irrigated.  And one-third to one-half of its harvest is routinely wasted due to storage challenges (weevils and mold) and market issues.  In 2009, President Obama pledged to work alongside these farmers to "make your farms flourish and to let clean waters flow to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds." That effort has now ended but the need is still immense.

For almost twenty years, DML has been joined by subject matter experts to promote certain types of farming – pigs, chickens, goats, corn, cabbage, and more.  We’ve gone through trainings with Foundations for Farmers or Farming God’s Way but haven’t found a catalyst to impact our network. But last year, through a connection from the Global Alliance of Church Multiplication (of which DML is a member), we connected with an organization called Equipping Farmers International (EFI).  The root connection that we made is that they too want to work through the church.  They too have found the church to be where discipleship takes place, and farming is at the core of God’s heart! 

DML has access to many African denominations, which have access to thousands of farmers. EFI has information to help the farmers. We asked, "What if we placed agricultural trainers in denominations, who will have the core responsibility to teach and educate farmers so that people, productivity, profit, and the planet can flourish?" As the global population continues to rise, as trade wars start and stop, providing food internally for a nation is suitable for everyone.

By God's grace, and the partnership of many, we are starting this year. We are doing pilot projects in Sierra Leone, Burundi, India, and adjacent partnerships in Burkina Faso and Nigeria. Teams are being pulled together in each place to undergo EFI’s training. Then, we will get that training into the denominations and identify trainers who can carry this work out regionally. 

YEA 2025!  YEA God!  Please pray that the term "hungry farmer" will soon be more of an exception than the rule.

Decades of Conflict: The Ongoing Crisis in Eastern DRC and Its Regional Impact

One of the most prolonged running conflicts in the world is in the DRC, on the east side of the country.  Fighting has been going on for almost three decades. Neighboring countries like Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi have also been involved.  

In January, a group called M-23 took over the capitals of two provinces in the DRC. M-23 is said to be getting support from Rwanda, which is also reported to have 3,000-4,000 of its own troops located there.

It all goes back to 1994, the year of the genocide in Rwanda, when a large number of people fled to the DRC, including some of the extremists who took part in the killings.  They were Hutu militia groups, who were anti-Tutsis. They ended up taking part in the overthrow of the government for the DRC and from there, there has been no peace.  The M-23 group, a Congolese Tutsi group, emerged in 2012, and has become the strongest of the various militias.  It got its name from a peace deal signed on March 23, 2009, but claimed that the Congolese government never fully implemented.  It is said that there are about 6,000 soldiers in M-23 but that their backing, support and firepower comes from Rwanda. Rwanda denies this.  Countries like the UK, however, have begun to suspend bilateral aid to Rwanda because of the connection.

The big question is what do they want?  The first thing that is said is that they want to protect Tutsis who have been discriminated against for many years.  They also say they are going after Hutu extremists.  But another reason is natural resources.  This region is rich in natural resources, especially gold, cobalt, and coltan, essential for electronic devices.  However, M-23 says their objective is not to use natural resources but to take the DRC from the current government, which they say is corrupt. 

Wherever M-23 goes, it establishes administration and issues new birth certificates, making it look like a long-term occupation.  Hundreds of thousands have been killed; many more than one million are displaced for many years.  So much trauma, including sexual abuse, in these camps.

Since January, more than 500,000 have been displaced, and recent fighting has caused more than 120,000 refugees to spill into Burundi.  53% of those arriving are children, 51% are women and girls.  But the more immense fear is that they will not be safe, even in Burundi.  Burundi's security is now at risk.

Peace talks were held this past weekend, led by the former presidents of Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Kenya and representatives from the ICC.  

Sometimes these stories can feel "old" especially as new wars take our attention.  But imagine thirty years of war with little to no respite. 

The work being done by our partner in Burundi is exploding with potential right now, and we pray against any discouragement or disruption in the doors that God seems to be opening for the flourishing of the people there, who have had their own very long civil war that ended not that long ago.

Please pray for peace in this region and that a regional war does not break out.

What New Invitations Are Emerging? Reflections from a Silent Retreat

[I'm currently on a seven-day silent retreat at The Hermitage in Three Rivers, MI. If you want to read more about what a silent retreat is, you can read my late husband's words about it here. I haven't had a week-long retreat since moving to Africa in 2005.  What a gift to be still and know that He is God!]

"What new invitations are emerging?"

This question greets me at one of my favorite sitting places on my silent retreat. 

At the start of my retreat, this question unsettles me. Do I hear an invitation? If so, what is it? If not, what does that mean? What if I don’t hear one the whole time I’m here? People expect me to “hear from God” in a place like this—but what if He is silent? What if I don’t do silence “right” and miss Him?

At the root of these questions lies fear. Fear that I’m not enough. Fear of failing. Anxiety about producing.

But slowly, as I enter into silence and redirect my eyes, ears, and soul, I hear Him.  Every time.  And I’ve been doing retreats on and off for nearly thirty years.  I don’t always hear what I want.  I usually come with an agenda of what I want to hear, and He gently moves my agenda aside and invites me just to be with Him, letting me know we can deal with “stuff” when I’m back in work mode. 

So, what new invitations are emerging?

This retreat has held an invitation to winter.

I usually take silent retreats in the spring, summer, or fall. Nature always plays a role in how I hear God. But this time, I wondered what it would be like to retreat in the cold, snowy winter—when stepping outside is less of an option.

Yet, as always, God has spoken through the winter landscape. The snowy paths, the stillness of the trees, the crisp air—all of it reminds me that He is present everywhere. It’s not The Hermitage that holds a special connection to God; rather, it’s that in this place, I slow down. I step away from distractions and listen.

How many moments do I miss experiencing God because I am too preoccupied with the calling rather than the Caller?

The invitation to winter is not new, but my understanding and acceptance of it are.

Just as trees go through seasons, so do we. Some trees require winter’s deep freeze to send nutrients to their roots and conserve energy for new growth. From the outside, they appear lifeless, but beneath the surface, quiet work is happening. It’s a season of rest—essential for survival and future fruitfulness.

Psalm 1 says that blessed is the one who is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.  Even for this tree, there are seasons of winter, of deep freeze, cold, barren, dark, and dreary.  We are not protected from that season.  We are to go through it, understanding that something important is happening during that time.  Our roots go down deeper, and we realize we can flourish even in the winter.  While here, I read a delightful book from Brother Lawrence, who lived in the late 1600s and was converted simply by looking at a tree in winter when he was 18 years old!  The potential of that tree moved his heart to believe in God.

So I'm being invited to winter.

What invitations are emerging in your life? Are you in a season of rest, growth, waiting, or action?

I believe God is always speaking—if we have the courage and patience to listen.

I’d love to hear from you.

Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: The Need for Theological Education Reform

As is typical, the first part of a new year is spent reflecting on the past year. For DML, this means collecting all the data on the activities that we have engaged in and assessing both what went well and what was a challenge.

We continue to be very, very busy, and we are seeing good impacts from those activities! As you probably know, we work directly with churches and denominations, business leaders, and people engaged in every workplace.  

(Our annual report will be coming out soon, but here is a sneak peek at the numbers from 2024 compared to earlier years. We thank God for all of our partners who work together to help this message get out there!)

However, one audience we do not share as much is our focus on getting courses into Bible colleges, seminaries, and Christian universities, relating to workplace discipleship and breaking the sacred/secular divide.  This particular audience tends to move very slowly and with great difficulty, as any changes must undergo rigorous accreditation processes to add or change courses.  While that is the reason often given for the slow process, I think the challenge goes deeper than that.

Recently, I was reading a book called Our Secular Vocation by J. Daryl Charles. (I don't like the title of this book—it's confusing.  But that aside, it's a good book.)

He said this about this topic (emphasis mine):

Any emphasis on the priesthood of all believers that calls Protestants back to their roots and to the sacredness of work in the marketplace is scarcely to be found in seminary and divinity school coursework. Substantial curricular change would require institutional reform on a wide scale, reform requiring a different academic model. What is needed in theological education is nothing less than the transformation of its core components. Every course in every theological topic at the seminary/divinity School level needs rethinking to eliminate the perpetual "sacred versus secular" residue and to foster the integration of faith, work, and vocation in a holistic way. At the most basic level, among those things needing serious examination in terms of course content are the following: a theology of creation, a theology of work, human flourishing, a theology of vocation, the history of the sacred-secular divide, the Lutheran breakthrough of the 16th century, the importance of engaging competing worldviews, ethical and economic challenges of the workplace, a theology of stewardship, service toward the common good and community flourishing, and redefinition of "mission."

The challenge is not just adding a course, such as DML's "Church-based Business as Mission" course, but a much broader institutional reform to break down the sacred-secular divide.  

While we have seen great progress in the faith and work movement, it continues to be led by church members rather than church leaders. Relatively few participants in this movement are pastors or priests. This is in large part because theological educational institutions are not keeping up with the opportunity and potential of this movement.

In addition, for those pastors who are already leading churches, the great majority of pastors or church leaders have not spent a significant season of their lives working in the marketplace.  When the leaders can't identify with the challenge and the opportunity, 99% of members will continue to belong to churches that help them worship weekly but leave them unsupported for where they spend most of their waking time.  Many people ask our DML teams if pastors should be co-vocational - having a job in the marketplace and leading a church?  We say that it is not necessary (but may be helpful for a season).  But at a minimum, the pastor should spend time meeting with at least one member in a learning position every week, asking, "What is God doing in your workplace, and how can the church support you to join Him in that work?"

It is good to see this movement change and grow.  We are seeing more and more Christians grow in their understanding that their work can be an act of worship.  We are seeing more and more denominations open their doors and embrace the need for discipleship in this area, especially denominations in Africa.  

(Picture is from Emmanuel University in Malawi, which has adopted DML courses into its curriculum and has undergone accreditation.)

We continue to pray that theological institutions will begin to train and equip every pastor to know how to equip the priesthood of believers to view their workplace as a place for worship and mission.  Please continue to pray with us for a breakthrough in this area!