Okay, that's a little over-dramatic. But let's back up a bit first...
Months ago, a local radio host asked Marianne if she'd come and preach on his radio show, which runs from 4-6 AM. Marianne responded that she'd call him if she had a message. Time passed, and each time Marianne saw Emmanuel, he asked her again and she said the same thing. Finally, he said, "You're just afraid of getting up so early in the morning!"
True...
Yes indeed, the thought of waking up at 4:40 AM was a significant barrier. But Marianne still didn't have a message.
But then one day she did. Marianne was struck by the lessons of faith we can learn from the story of Peter walking on the water. Emmanuel was beyond thinking Marianne would ever say yes to coming, so she called him up and said, "I'll come, when you have a spot!"
And so, we went to the radio on May 20th with our friend Irene, who translated.
Waking up every Thursday at 4:40?? And producing a radio message every week? Amazing opportunity! But was it God's will?
More prayer...more seeking...
...and meanwhile, God gave Mike a message! So the next Thursday, it was Mike instead of Marianne, this time preaching about salvation by grace, through faith, for good works (Ephesians 2:8-9).
(Incidentally, Marianne is not sleeping in the photo below...)
The positive feedback then also motivated Tom to give it a try. Mike's message sparked an idea in Tom's mind - to preach about salvation through grace by telling the story of the crucifixion from the perspective of the thief who died on the cross beside Jesus.
Tom did deliver his message the next Thursday, and the story of the thief was compellingly and creatively woven together. We've posted it here, if you'd like to listen to it, and also hear what the Acholi language sounds like. That week it was our friend Samuel translating, since Irene was away.
Well, she's now felt peace about devoting her time to the radio, for now. But she's glad she took the time to really pray about it...because she's had some more ideas for different things to share, other than direct "preaching". And the best part is that her delay in saying yes also gave Mike and Tom a chance to get actively involved. As Ecclesiastes says, "Two are better off than one...A rope of three cords is hard to break."
(And waking up at 4:40 AM isn't actually that bad...you might need to close your eyes at lunch for a few minutes, but it's not as bad as it sounds. So if God calls you to do something that involves leaving your bed super-early, take courage and give it a try! Now, you can ask us again how it is in a couple months...)