Birds & Listening to the Holy Spirit

 This past week we attended leadership meetings.  It was held at a nice quiet spot.  In the morning one could go out and see and hear all kinds of birds.  Each morning you could see at least a dozen different kinds of birds if you were quiet and looking.  But more about birds later…

Weaver bird

This past week we attended  leadership meetings. It was not a huge group—just people from our region of the organization gathering together to listen to the Holy Spirit and to receive from Him direction for the years ahead.  It is not a simple thing, to bring some 30 people together and discover a single direction to go in.  Different cultures, languages, personalities, responsibilities, burdens, ways of making decisions, ages, and more, all come into play as you try to hear from the Holy Spirit.  Is it reasonable to think that 30 odd people can come to agreement—not by majority vote, but in unity with one heart and one mind?  So often that seems like an impossible task.  We are a diverse group, hailing from at least 8 different countries. Such diversity makes unity difficult to achieve. Would the Lord really bring us to a place of unity?

And yet, we are promised these things in His Word:

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.”

“Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name, the name You gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent me. I have given them the glory that You gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and You in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.”

So why should we doubt?  And yet, I had my doubts…could we really think as one?  

Southern Boubou ((c) Jaunne-Marelize Van Tonder)

This is where birds come in.  In the morning, as I sat with the Lord, it seemed like He took delight in pointing out to me the different kinds of birds.  I watched a weaver bird for quite some time.  There were red-faced mousebirds that love to bob up and down, up and down.  The swifts would dive bomb like World War II fighter planes and tiny little Cape White Eyes—which look like little balls of fluff—it’s a wonder they can even fly.  There were bigger birds too: guinea fowl, grey louries, and the ibis with their loud and obnoxious call.  And so many other bird calls—a few in particular that stood out, for their clarity and beauty—melodic calls that rang out like someone playing a few repeated notes on a clarinet or a flute.  One call in particular caught my attention.  It was three clear notes, repeated again and again, a sort of “loo-dee-loo.”  Thanks to the internet, I could look up all the names of these birds I was seeing, and even listen to their calls, searching for the illusive bird call, but I struggled to find it.  I listened to dozens of calls but nothing seemed to fit.  

The next morning I heard the call again—what was making that beautiful call?  In a bit of frustration, I prayed about it “Lord, you love to give good gifts, would you help me find the bird that makes that call?”  A moment later a bird I hadn’t seen before perched on a branch almost directly in front of me.  I noted that this bird was a Southern Boubou before it flew away and continued on with my quiet time.  It wasn’t until later that I had the thought, “What does the call of the Southern Boubou sound like?”  Sure enough, this “shy shrike” makes the loo-dee-loo call.  Along with most of the other beautiful, clear calls that I was hearing each morning.  The Boubou is rather prolific in its variations, making all sorts of beautiful calls and often doing so in duet.  Now as I listened, I heard it.  The calls and answering calls, the variations—not just “loo-dee-loo” but, “loo-dee” and “loo-de-whoop” and many others.  All those beautiful clear calls coming from the same source—The Southern Boubou.

And it hit me that this was not only the Father, giving me the gift of identifying a bird call, but also the Spirit encouraging me to trust Him.  The Southern Boubou can have all sorts of calls, but they all come from the same source, and they work in harmony with each other.  Is this not the same things the Holy Spirit would do during our meetings?  Many voices, many variations, but all coming from the same source, the same Spirit, weaving into one.  And so it was with our conference.  With all our diversity, we were able to find unity of thought and direction, because despite the variety of voices, they all emanated from one source.  When God’s people humble themselves and listen, the Spirit’s voice comes through with clarity and power.

With kids at a museum exhibit

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for all the leaders in our region and the opportunity to be with them and be inspired and challenged by them. We are very thankful that we got to spend the weekend with all three of our kids, having fun together. We are thankful that Megan was able to squeeze in a second PT visit in the midst of our meetings and for the improvement she has already seen in her symptoms. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our region of Africa that there would be many who would catch the vision for working cross-culturally and that God would prepare the way for organizations and countries to welcome them. Pray for Hashiri that she would have peace and understanding within her family— she has sent several messages to Megan while we’ve been away asking for prayers. The young daughter of MaNadjma (our long time house helper) needs a specialist opinion for a health concern. Pray for peace for MaNadjma and that the diagnosis would not be anything serious. Pray for Madagascar as their government says that it is in the middle of a coup— pray for peace and justice to reign and for that country to return to a place of stability. Pray for our daughter as she continues to manage her rheumatoid arthritis— she has been struggling with more pain and fatigue this school term. Pray that her stress levels would be low (even as she prepares college applications) and that the changes to her treatment plan would bring relief without side effects. 

P.S. If you want to listen to some Southern Boubou calls : https://youtu.be/O_PpPnxM5JQ?si=GVs3ZwnbFFU_uMHP