7 Dec 2009
Advent Devotional
TRIANGLES
It was 8:00 a.m. in equatorial Africa and our parallel ladders made triangles against a roofless wall. As we worked to make the three-sided roof truss upright, my partner, born and reared in nearby Buchanan, Liberia, looked with a quizzical frown at the tool I used. I could tell he was quite interested in my carpenter’s triangle.
The goal of our mission team from First Baptist Church of Decatur was to help finish a church building begun by missionaries. We brought our tools from Georgia and planned to leave them with the 25 native volunteer workers.
My co-worker bore down on learning the use of a triangle. As we worked, the smell of collard greens cooking in hot mustard sauce overtook me. Some volunteers prepared lunch while we measured, sawed and hammered.
I tarried on my ladder when the lunch call sounded. I watched as my partner raced to get his plate and eat in exile 100 feet from the others.
Later, several Africans explained that my partner was a member of a tribe that had helped slave traders capture and deliver Africans to the slave ships. One man allowed that my partner was a good man and, while they permitted him to work with them, he could not dine with them.
On departure day, we, they and he gathered to pray to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and say goodbye. My partner accepted the gift of the triangle and thanked me with a hug and a smile.
PRAYER: Lord, teach us to learn war no more, and to forgive the wars of long ago. Amen.
Wade Medlock