SHORT IN HEIGHT, TALL IN COURAGE
Chapter 18
JJ Puts His Intentions to a Vote
As Mabior, Samuel, Diemba, and I sat drinking our morning lifter at Fred's, I made the decision to call The Team together to ask their permission about a matter that had been rattling through my head for many months. God had been filling this head with some crazy thoughts, and I wanted to run it by The Team. With a sigh, I remarked, "I could sit here all day drinking this wonderful coffee and talking over the world's solutions. It is so peaceful and calm in the early morning, but duty calls."
Samuel mused, "Chief, remember our first lifter together here at Fred's?"
Looking into the distance while seeing nothing, "Yes, I remember it fondly. Those were the early days of The Team. Remember what happened with you in the western part of the country soon after? We discovered that this short guy was filled with as much courage as any of the tallest men on this earth."
Embarrassed, Samuel replied, "Chief, I only do as God orders me. I am nothing without Him."
At that, Mabior commented, "Little Brother, you are the wind that fills the sails of this ship to move it forward. You complement The Team with your reliance on God for everything. Whenever we feel ourselves sliding backward, you step up to refocus us on God."
Diemba added, "I heard stories of this group long before I realized they were real men, not myths. When I encountered all of you for the first time in the marketplace that day, I was infatuated. Upon hearing Samuel, Deng, and Shermake testifying, I felt the Holy Spirit begin to flow into and fill my soul. Then, I understood where The Team received its power. It was an experience that my family and I shall carry with us forever. It immediately changed our lives."
As we strolled pensively toward the compound after lifters, Samuel began to quietly sing The Team's song, Impossible Dream. We all joined in. The realization came upon me at some point that the locals around us had joined us in the singing. Eerily, it produced chills down my spine.
What had God really created here? We weren't The Team anymore. It had transcended us in our tiny piece of this enormous world to become something people looked at to get a glimpse of God. It has been a pleasant surprise to me. Dedication to our loving, forgiving God still turned heads in this secular, material world. We are not embarrassed to work for our Lord, our God. We thrive on his presence, his existence. We choose to look different from the world around us.
Walking into the compound, I asked Mabior to contact The Team about a 10 am meeting.
Later, as we gathered in the meeting room, everyone was in a jovial mood. Letting the men greet and gossip for a bit gave me time to observe each of them. They all have their little quirks, just as we all do. Each man is blessed with personal talents and spiritual gifts, as we all are. In truth, It scares me at times to see how they attack danger with little or no concern for their personal safety. I've witnessed them on their knees in prayer in public. It's incredible seeing them weep unashamedly over a human being that was moments before their enemy and, now, lay injured before them.
How I love these men that give it all to their God. They have never had a regular paycheck, yet they rarely ask for money aside from helping a person in need. They could have millions just for the asking from WCPN, but glory to God is their pay. I've never once told them WCPN has provided a solid and secure future when and if they leave The Team. They will have no material wants.
Everyone took a seat as I called the meeting to order. Asking for any new business, Mabior reminded everyone that the C-Team has an academic competition this coming Saturday. I asked if anyone had any old business.
Thon stood, suggesting that we all get to the movie theater early tonight, "because everybody will be there with that new Denzel Washington film being shown. Furthermore, the girl that makes popcorn has a tendency to be lost in the sauce, so we might consider making our own." All concurred with that suggestion.
Amani, the brain, quietly interjected that Thon's old business was actually new business.
Ahem, let's get down to the business I called you here for. Something has been rolling around in my head for several months.
Thon blurted out, "Chief, do you need help getting it out?" Everyone laughed, of course.
"You know, Thon, I just might at some point. You'll be the first one that I call. What has been rolling around in all that blank space is what I think would be a great book about The Team. With that said, I would never do it without the permission of each one of you. Any profits would go to charities of your choosing. I cannot tell everything due to secrecy, but the world needs to know what God does for those who faithfully serve Him."
Mabior commented, "Chief, why would you ever think that you would have to ask for our permission to do anything, except to leave us? I speak for all the men when I say that our trust in you is complete."
The other men shouted their acquiescence to Mabior's comment. Their response caused me to blush, according to Samuel.
Alek shouted out, "I want Denzel Washington to play me!"
"No way, he's my twin," touted Mar.
Thon entered with, "I've got first call on George Clooney." Everyone looked at Thon with puzzled looks.
Laughing, I quieted everyone down, telling them, "It hasn't been written yet, much less published. I'm not even sure that I'm good enough to write a book.
Samuel stood up, cleared his throat, and began, "Chief, from day one, you have drilled into everybody here that can't is not a word. You tell us almost daily that using the word can't is no different than desertion in the face of the enemy. Every man here, but you, evidently, understands that you can do whatever you set your mind to, and God approves. Why would God object to showing the world his glory? Buck up, soldier!"
That brought a round of cheers from all the men. I must admit it gave me quite a pumping up inside. I looked around the table, then notified the men, "I will not let you down. I will do this. Thank you for your encouragement. God bless you all.
Mabior ordered everyone to silence so that he could tell a story, "As you all know, I was the first man that the Chief and Mark came to inspect and check out his personal credentials. I was a sad case in those days. I was so depressed that I couldn't leave my bed on most days. My grief over the loss of my family had crushed me. How could God take away so many of the people that I dearly love in one moment? I thought these two men, the Chief and Mark, were insane. They sat in front of me, telling me that I would be a part of this great Christian quasi-military unit to rescue Christians captured by Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, and any other terrorist organization. They wanted me, a person who could not get himself out of his bed each day to go rescue people. Me - a person that needed rescuing himself. When I fell back on my bed in front of them, they grabbed me by each arm, telling me, 'You can lay there feeling sorry for yourself the rest of your life, or you can get up and answer the call of our God Almighty to serve Him - Christian Soldier!'"
After some thought, Mabior resumed, "That was a challenge. I asked them what I would be doing. Mark shouted at me, 'you will train and study till you drop from exhaustion, then we will stand you back up to train and study some more! Then we'll take you into the most dangerous places on earth to fight against the most vicious terrorist organizations on earth. And you are going to do it all for God, and God alone.'"
I cut in with, "And I remember exactly what you said after Mark finished. You shook your head and remarked, 'Only God himself would seriously ask that crazy kind of stuff from anyone. I'm in. Where do I sign?'"
Alek jumped in with his story, saying, "In the beginning, there was the Chief, Mark, Mabior, and this quiet and crazy guy with amazing military skills, Chan. This group comes to my little village in southern South Sudan looking for recruits. The village had recently been destroyed for the most part by Al Qaeda, and my family butchered. These four men walked over to me, and the Chief said, 'You want to lay there the rest of your life or get up and serve God?' Looking at him like he was crazy, I asked, God? There is no God that would let all this happen. Mabior gave me his scary look as he told me, 'Well, my Brother, God never promised you a perfect life upon becoming a Christian, but He is offering you a chance to fight back. Of course, if you want to lay there wallowing in self-pity and miss all the action, that's your choice. God never forces us to be a man, but he always has that invitation extended, just in case you change your mind.'"
Mabior laughed, "Alek, within a few minutes, you came running up to us shouting, 'I'm not a coward. I'm not afraid of any man. I love my Lord Jesus. I'll take on all four of you right here.' Then Chan laughed, put his arm around you, and said, 'Save your energy for Al Qaeda, my new brother.'"
Samuel told his story. Stories from past missions were retold with great fondness. Shermake related how the bullet that entered his body felt like nothing due to the realization that it meant he had received Jesus' invitation. He captivated us as he told us how Samuel had, without our knowledge, visited him on the plane to tell him that his actions said yes to Jesus' invitation. It gave him the strength to hold on and convinced him that he had made a wise decision to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
We all cried as we related how Mark and Chan had been killed by that monster, Gusev. The Russian connection brought another remembrance of extreme sadness, Alexei Fedorov. We recalled his questioned existence, and there was the famous garage-door control that operated the gate at the Chadian airport. That lifted our spirits. He was a strange little man but one of God's finest.
We laughed about Samuel beating us all to the top of the mountain that day. Acting so innocent with his answer as to how he accomplished that. Still claiming that he took the short side. He was let off the hook on that when someone brought up the unlikely affair of Samuel and Leah. Samuel still blushes when you try to dig in deep on that subject. He is totally devoted to her.
I was afraid of this. Going over Samuel's love affair, The Team brought up Amira and me. My attempts to ward off their inquiries were thwarted by the traitor, Mabior, saying, "The Chief has a hot date next week. Amira is flying in for the weekend."
All was crazy at that comment. Finally, I interjected with, "Mabior, what are your plans with Maya when she travels here for a week to spend her vacation with you?" That got the monkey off my back. At least until Samuel asked me, "Have you and Amira firmed up your plans for a trip to the U.S. to meet your parents?
Firing back at Samuel, I exclaimed, "Who told you that?"
Samuel grinned, "Leah, who else? Mabior, she said you and Maya are thinking about going with them." Mabior spat his coffee across the table at that comment.
It was all in good fun - I think.
The stories continued until the call to supper halted the proceedings. Nothing gets in the way of The Team and food - nothing. How wrong I was. The fight to get out the door to the dining hall halted abruptly as a visitor entered.
She was standing in the lobby when The Team noticed her presence. We all stopped and stared at the modestly dressed and beautiful woman before them. I pushed through the frozen men to introduce myself and inquire about her identity.
She smiled as she took my extended hand, commenting, "I recognize you, Mr. Jefferson, and all The Team. I am Natalya Fedorov, Alexei's wife."
The Team slowly gathered around Natalya with tears running freely on all our faces and hers. Everyone took turns hugging and expressing their love. We missed the mysterious little man who seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Surrounded by The Team, we guided her gently to the large plaque on the wall that showed Alexei as an honored member of The Team. Until then, she had been firm, but that broke her resolve. We all hugged and attempted to console her with words, but no avail. After much time and Mrs. Akech's warm and female sensitivities, she took supper with The Team.
Mrs. Akech took Natalya's phone to photograph some of the occasion. She explained how her children would treasure these pictures as much as she. She showed us a picture of their living room wall where a large framed photo of Alexei with The Team hung. It was a joyful time, but she had only one evening with us before her departure early the following day. The Russian Government had arranged this trip for her at the order of President Putin, who, though not a Christian, recognized the importance of Christian morality in this world that was fast rejecting it.
The following morning as we sat sipping our lifters at Fred's Coffee Shack, a man came running toward us carrying what looked like a cow's leg, followed by several men shouting, "Stop, thief!"
Nonchalantly, Samuel turned in his chair just as the man flew by and stuck his foot out, tripping the man and sending him to a painful halt against the ground. It was funny to see the cow's leg continue on its course through the air without the man. The men chasing came up and kept bowing to Samuel.
Mabior uttered, "Little Brother, next time, try not to injure the meat."
As we lapsed back into our morning stares at the crowd milling through the Market, Fred disturbed us by his probing me, "Hey, JJ, hear you're going to write a bestseller novel about The Team."
Letting out a sigh, I replied, "Not so sure it'll be a bestseller, but a novel about The Team, yes. Why?"
Fred wiped the table with his towel, "Nothing, really. Just wanted to ask who you thought might play me in the movie? I was thinking..."
I cut him off, "Fred, I have not even begun work on the book, much less thought about making it a movie." I felt bad about cutting him short. "I didn't want to get your hopes up, but, in my way of thinking, Denzel Washington would fit you perfectly."
Fred's eyes lit up at those words, "Serious? Wow! Denzel as me. Wait till my friends hear this. Thanks, JJ. Excuse me, I've gotta go make an important call."
Samuel smiled as he looked closely at me, "I know the truth of what you said, but you made Fred's tedious daily life just a little better from here out. God would never reprimand us for a lie with that much positive in it. Besides, with God nothing is impossible."
We stood slowly for our walk to the compound. How I enjoyed these morning lifters with the boys and the locals and the cattle legs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
