If you have spent 2.5 seconds with me on the topic of missions from America, you would know that I want more MEN on the field and more AFRICAN AMERICANS going to nations.
To discover George Liele’s story this morning was fascinating and SO encouraging.
He was born into slavery in 1750.
He was free in 1773, age the age of 23. Free in Christ, but still a slave.
His Master, Henry Sharp eventually freed Liele, but after Sharp died, Sharp’s heirs tried to enslave him again and threw him in prison. Liele was able to produce proper documentation that he was free and was released from prison.
Tell me that ain’t got a ton of parallels in it!
Our Master, King Jesus, wants us free. You are free even if people put you in jail. Your freedom came at your “yes” to Jesus, not to any human. Even if they put you in a place that is not your identity, you are still who you are….free. You just gotta show them what your Dad said in His Book about your freedom. That’s proper documentation. Remind them of Whose you now are. Who your Master is.
He left, as the first EVER missionary from America…to Jamaica where he ministered to SLAVES from Africa. Tell me that ain’t FULL circle, God doesn’t-waste-nothing-in-your-past-testimony! Your slavery was bad, but not wasted.
Liele was persecuted in Jamaica too and got thrown in jail. He preached. in. jail. to. prisoners…..
Emancipate someone and see if they can’t keep their mouth shut. Coming from slavery myself…I know what compelled Liele to be bold. He knew Whose He was…and you want more kids to know their Dad. It’s like his life screamed “All the slaves, all the prisoners…come…let me tell you how I got free.”
While in prison himself, because he never those metal bars had nuthin’ on the state of his liberty.
10 years after Liele died, slavery was eradicated in Jamaica. And he never saw that happen in his lifetime. In our lives, we just focus on setting people free, breaking chains off of them and watch if a nation gets changed. It doesn’t matter if you see it (in its fullness)…just start doing it.
One of Liele’s converts was Hall who had an assistant, David. David led prayer meetings. A group of slave owners burst into David’s prayer meeting.
“They seized David, murdered him, cut off his head and placed it on a pole in the center of the village as a warning to the other slaves.
They dragged Moses Hall up to the grisly object. “Now, Moses Hall, whose head is that?” the leader of the murderers asked.
“David’s,” replied Moses.
“Do you know why he’s up here?”
“For praying, sir,” said Moses.
“No more of your prayer meetings,” he said.
“If we catch you at it, we shall serve you as we have served David.”
As the crowd watched, Moses knelt beside the pole and said, “Let us pray.”
The other blacks gathered around and knelt with him as he prayed for the salvation of the murderers.”
Y’all….
When you live outrageouly free, you will be bold. You will encourage others to be bold and the line…the generational line that follows looks like their daddy. Only you will multiply far beyond your own reach into a Kingdom of multiplication.
“Back to the future” was a movie about a guy who “accidentally” travelled back in time. I hope in our future, we go “intentionally” go back to how we started in missions. A male and an African American.
Of course, I am in that future, too. A female and African American.
(Trying to see if you are paying attention.)
So all the slaves that are now free…whether male or female…black or white…all catapulted into nations to be EVEN bolder.
May the trendsetter, trail blazer, bold, courageous, unashamed LEADER for world missions be our future in overseas missions from America in 2020.
See https://www.imb.org/2018/06/26/missionaries-you-should-know-george-liele/
https://www.gfamissions.org/pages/learn-and-promote/detail/3/43/
