Article December 14, 2009 Issue

LONG-TERM PLANNING WITH GOD

L. Gregory Jones

The Christian Century

"WHAT CAUSES YOU to become discouraged?" I asked a visitor from eastern Congo who started a university in that country a few years ago. He told me that the school had grown from 200 to 500 to 800 students, and that it was adding new areas of study. I was impressed as he described the intersections of pastoral training, agriculture, and health. He painted a portrait of a school that is exciting, imaginative, and hopeful.

I knew that his university is close to the intense violence of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and I was sure there must be enormous obstacles and frustrations associated not only with a lack of material resources but also with threats of violence.

But the visitor responded to my expression of concern with "Oh, I never get discouraged," then added: "Yes, there was one time—when I was confronted by a 12-year-old with an AK-47. I don't get too worried if I encounter an armed adult, because I can usually talk him out of whatever he's planning to do. But with 12-year-olds it's different. They will almost always kill you, because they think they have to obey orders. So I was discouraged.

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