03/28/2004: "Bolie's Spear"

By Carol J. Warren

The jungle is a wild place where wild untamed things live and struggle with the jungle and each other to survive. See there is an eerie looking red-eyed tree frog over there. On the trail is a large bluish colored lizard that looks very mean but he seems to have lost interest now and is moving on. When I stopped to rest a moment ago I almost sat on a log until its head moved. It was a giant rock boa constrictor. The jungle is full of dangers lions, leopards, hyenas, poison snakes, spiders, and many, many other things. A few minutes ago a snake hanging out of a tree swung in my face. I think he is one of those poisonous snakes they call a two-step snake, once they bite you two steps and your dead.

So what am I, a young boy doing out here all alone in the jungle. Well maybe I had better back up a little bit and explain. My name is Joe. My life was fairly typical a year ago. I lived in a small rural town in the USA. My parents were Youth Pastors at our local mid-size church. We were in church every time the doors were open. My school was even at the church. It was ok because my friends went there too. I did all the normal kid stuff like skateboarding, video games, TV and I was just getting into basketball at our school when my parents sprung this on me. They felt called to the mission field. Not just any mission field, they had to feel called to a remote area in Africa.

When I say remote I mean, no electricity, no telephone, no TV, no video games, no sidewalks for skateboarding, for Pete’s sake no ice cream. We are talking the total jungle thing going on here. So it was bad enough giving up all my fun things but I also had to give up my friends, my grandparents, and my whole life. No it was more than that even. I don’t know how to explain it but it was my home, a place where I felt safe and protected. That’s something I haven’t felt since we left, that safe feeling of home.

When we arrived in the local village I thought it was extreme and primitive but come to find out this was the big city in these parts. I was flabbergasted. You had to be kidding me. But where we were going to be “living” was a three-day hike through rugged jungle. It was going to be even more primitive than this. I will never forget my first lecture on quick sand and the fact that I had so much bug repellant on that I was sticky all over. That’s because the mosquitoes here carry terrible diseases like malaria and dengue fever. Not something I even had to think about at home. We had to leave so many things behind. We only got to bring things that we or the natives that came to help us could carry.

I will never forget the first time I met Bolie. He is a very big dark skinned man. His skin is like shinny black oil and his eyes and teeth shine like beams of light in the middle of all that darkness. At first I was scared of him because he was so different and so big. He wore a skirt looking thing and carried a spear and a large machete. I found out quick though, you don’t touch Bolie’s spear. It is his tribal spear and it means that he is a man of importance and position in his tribe. It had been in his family for a long time. Bolie was our guide through the jungle and next in line to be chief of the village where we were going to be living.

I can’t even remember how many times Bolie saved my hide. Once he stuck his spear in my face like he was batting at something. I heard something hit the spear and go flying. It was a giant tarantula jumping through the air straight for my face. Bolie just laughed and told me, “Little boss with fire on the head must keep his eyes open and learn to duck.” Then he rubbed my hair like he loved to do because it was red just like my dads. He had never seen red hair before. They thought it was a sign that the Lord was with us in a special way.

But Bolie wasn’t on this trip and neither were any of the other African guides, it was only me. What I would give to see big ole Bolie looming over me laughing again. Joe jumped at the sound of some elephants crashing through the brush in front of him to catch up with the herd. He knew bull elephants can charge you if they can smell you, as can rhinos, and gorillas, so Joe gave them plenty of room and prayed that the wind wasn’t blowing in their direction.

When they first got to the village Joe thought it was a rest stop. He was sure his parents weren’t going to expect him to live in this ratty place but he was wrong. They build a decent structure to live in with the help of the natives. But it wasn’t sturdy enough to keep anything out if they really wanted to get in, like a gorilla or an elephant. Often Joe woke to monkeys in the rafters of his room. It reminded him of his first trip through the jungle to the village when monkeys had jumped on him and he didn’t know what to do. They took his hat, he liked to never got it back. They crawled all over him going through his pockets pulling out items and then once they found out it wasn’t food dropping it on the ground. He thought Bolie was going to bust a gut laughing at him before he finally got the monkeys to leave him alone.

Just now he noticed a mom and her baby monkey watching him. Some of these monkeys get big and they can be mean. So Joe walked as quietly as possible and hurried along. Adjusting to village life was hard. The kids were even different. They even dressed different and they sure talked different. They were very curious about Joe from the beginning. Especially when his mom started playing her keyboard. They had carried the keyboard all the way through the jungle and a generator that they had to use sparingly because fuel was hard to come by, so they mainly just used it for the keyboard. It was the one thing that made Joe feel close to home again.

When his mother worshiped she wasn’t like others he had seen that just stand there calmly and sing. She seemed to be seeing things you couldn’t see. It was like she was seeing the Lord and singing and dancing with Him. You couldn’t see Him but you could tell for sure by the way she acted that she could. She would get so caught up in her worship that she would stop playing for a while and dance around the room in sweeping motions of adoration. Sometimes his dad would join her. He was not as graceful as she was but he too seemed to be caught up in a different place, seeing things that I couldn’t see.

Mom would try to get me to worship but I would just sort of try a little while until she got so caught up herself that she wasn’t paying any attention to me and then I could goof off. She tried to tell me to pretend Jesus Christ was right there with me, because if I have accepted Him into my heart, in truth He is right there with me. She would tell me things like the devil didn’t invent fun Joe, God did. The devil just distorted it. The Lord invented laughter and play and everything good and wonderful. He is a joy to draw close to.

I would start out pretending the Lord was with me, really I would and then the next thing I knew I was pretending I was Superman or a warring soldier. Me and the other boys of the village would stand in the front corner of the church during worship. We would either act silly and goofy or just stand there waiting for it to be over. Sometimes I would sit when I was sure no one was paying attention and draw or mess around with the other kids. I’m sorry but it was boring for me. My mom says it wouldn’t be boring if I would give it a chance and be real with the Lord but it just didn’t work for me.

I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior when I was 5 years old and was water baptized. But mom says there is a difference in accepting Him as your Savior and really getting to know Him and letting Him be your friend. I tried to listen for His voice a couple of times but got frustrated and gave up. A few times when I tried during worship I would actually feel His peace like a blanket of love all around me until I got distracted. I figured I could worry about stuff like that when I grew up. I mean what’s the big deal right. But I was soon to find out it was a big deal and I was wrong.

Mom said that I was there as an example and when I goofed off the other kids felt they should goof off too. If one doesn’t participate it encourages others not to participate and soon I have undone everything they have traveled around the world to do, to get people to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. I didn’t mean to hinder their work. I knew it was important but I didn’t think playing around a little was any big deal. Now I know what a lie from the devil that really was.

My dad preached twice a week and prayed for people but he spent the rest of his time translating the bible into their language. It was cool to see him pray with people and so many times people were healed. The nearest doctor was a few days away straight through the jungle and the people had no money even if the doctor had been closer. So often if some one was terribly sick they would send for dad and he would pray. I asked dad why some were healed and some weren’t but he said he just left that up to the Lord. I figure there has to be more to it than that and someday when I decide to get serious about this stuff I’m going to find out.

Mom spent a lot of her time home schooling me as well as others in the village that wanted to learn to read and write. She also had a ladies bible study and took care of all the music. Oh yeah she calls it worship. I couldn’t figure out what the difference was. Bolie says when the fire on my head gets into my heart and it burns for the Lord then I will understand worship. But for now I’m just a normal kid in abnormal conditions that wants to have fun.

Bolie would take me on short treks into the jungle but never too far. He taught me a lot of things about the jungle. Bolie was my best friend in the whole world. Mom didn’t like me going anywhere near the jungle but dad said as long as I was with Bolie I would be safe from anything. But Bolie wasn’t here now and I was wondering how long I really was going to last in the jungle by myself.

Was it just this morning that it all started? It seems like forever ago. I woke at daylight when I heard something crash through the front door. I ran to see what it was being careful because the last time it was a baby elephant and the mother wasn’t too far behind. But this time it was Bolie. My big strong friend Bolie was lying on the floor. He looked terrible. He said, “Get your mom and dad quick the sickness has come.”

I ran screaming into mom and dads room but they couldn’t get up, they were sick too. Dad could only talk softly and his mind kept wandering. I shook him hard to try to clear his head but he was too sick to be of any help. All he said was, “Get help son, get help quick.”

I started to run out the door to find help in the village but Bolie grabbed my ankle as I started to pass him. For someone so sick his grip was still firm. “They are all sick little boss.” Bolie said, “Only a few very small children and you are not sick. It’s up to you little boss.” Then he started to cough.

“What do you mean it is up to me? It can’t be up to me, I’m just a kid. I don’t know what to do.” I cried.

I wanted to run away but Bolie wouldn’t let go of my ankle. “You can do it little boss, you have to do it. There is no one else. You must run through the jungle to the big village and get the doctor.”

I started to complain but he held up his other hand to stop me. And when I saw how hard it was for him to talk I thought I had better listen because soon he might not be able to tell me what to do. “You can run through the jungle in one day, maybe one and a half days. When we came in it took three days because we carried so many things and had to go slow but one man can run most of the time and go fast. You can make it in half the time.” Bolie said wheezing.

“Bolie,” I cried as my friend fought to catch his breath.

“It’s ok little boss.” Bolie said with a faint smile. That was his pet name for me little boss. “Take my spear and remember what I taught you. If the jungle is thick shake the bushes and grass before you pass them. Keep your eyes looking around you all the time. You can do this.”

I couldn’t believe Bolie was going to let me take his tribal spear. That’s when I realized just how sick he really was. Bolie let go of my ankle and I ran back to my parent’s room. “Dad,” I screamed, “wake up, do you hear me? Wake up. Bolie wants me to go through the jungle to get a doctor, “alone”. Everyone in the village is sick and I don’t know what to do.”

His dad mustered all the strength he had and propped himself up on one elbow. “You can do it Joe. You have to do it or we are all dead. I will be praying and the Lord Jesus will go with you Joe. He will keep you through the jungle.”

I couldn’t believe my dad was telling me to go. “Mom,” I screamed, surely she would say no. Mom was whispering something. I had to get closer to hear. “I will pray Joe.” She was saying “and the Lord will go with you. Remember to listen for Him and talk to Him along the way. He can’t help you if you don’t talk to Him and listen to what He has to say. Take a canteen of water and some bread.”

Then Joe’s mom went back to sleep and he couldn’t wake her up. This was it he had to go. Bolie had crawled and pulled himself into the room from the door. Joe could tell that the effort had hurt him. He leaned down for one last word of advice. Bolie rubbed his red hair and smiled. “You must let the fire of the Lord into your heart now, little Boss and it will guide you. Run like the wind, run fast, we all depend on you and the Lord Jesus goes with you. Go!” He shouted.

Joe ran and filled a canteen with water and put some bread in a plastic bag and pulled it through the loop of his pants. He ran to the door only hesitating for a moment before he grabbed Bolie’s spear and took off running. Tears were streaming down his face as he ran. He could hardly see where he was going. He doesn’t remember how long he ran blindly like that his thoughts swirling but finally he calmed down some and began to take note of where he was. It was then that he felt the Lord’s peace settle over him like a thick mist of love. He couldn’t see the Lord but he could tell that He was smiling. He couldn’t explain how, he just felt it. It gave him the courage he needed to continue.

When Joe encountered open places he ran but when the jungle was thick he walked slower and moved the thick foliage with Bolie’s spear to make sure there was nothing dangerous ahead of him. Bolie always said, “It is better for the snake to bite the spear than for the snake to bite me.” He kept remembering what his mother said. He must talk to the Lord along the way and listen to Him. But Joe didn’t know how to really talk to the Lord and he didn’t know how to listen to Him. It had seemed so unimportant before. It was something his parents could do for him but now it was up to him and he didn’t know how to press in to the presence of the Lord let alone listen. Now his life and his parent’s lives depended on his ability to allow the Lord to help him through this jungle.

He tried to pray as he went when he thought of it, praying for his mom and dad, praying for Bolie and the villagers to be ok. Praying for the Lord to guide him and protect him. He also began to realize that he would not only be in the jungle alone but soon he would be in the jungle alone at night when all the predators come out to hunt. He began to pray for protection and that he would not get tired. He prayed that he would be able to just keep going and go fast so that he could get the help they needed. He knew his parents were praying too if they weren’t…

Just then Joe heard a voice. It said clearly, “Stop and be very still no matter what.” Joe froze in his tracks moving his eyes but not his head to look around. About that time a lion jumped onto the trail from a ledge above. He had been waiting there for Joe. He looked at Joe and walked closer. Joe didn’t move. He walked with in a few feet of Joe and then it was like he couldn’t go any closer. He pawed the air as though confused. Then he roared loudly in frustration and finally walked away. Joe looked up he couldn’t see the Lord but he could just feel he was smiling at Joe as if to say, “I knew you really did trust me after all.”

Joe started down the trail again. Just then Joe noticed that the spear he was taping the ground with in front of him sunk into the ground. It was quicksand. He poked around the ground until he found ground firm enough to walk on. He was trying very hard to stay on the trail and not to veer off. It was hard enough to stay on the trail as it was; it wasn’t always easy to be sure it was the trail. Sometimes the trail seemed to be swallowed up by the jungle.

Suddenly Joe actually saw the Lord in front of him pointing to some bushes as though that is the way Joe should go. The trail very clearly went to the right but He was pointing to the bushes on the left. Joe tried to explain to the Lord that he must stay on the trail and not try to crawl through the bushes. He might get lost. The Lord just smiled at him like don’t I know what you need to do, and then he disappeared.

Joe was confused but one thing he knew was that he could trust the Lord no matter how things looked. He took care of the lion and He must know something special or He wouldn’t take Joe off the trail. So he took off through the bushes. But they weren’t bushes at all. It was a thin veil of vines that had grown over the trail. This is the place where the trail Y’s. If the Lord hadn’t warned Joe he would have headed off for days in the wrong direction. “Wow,” Joe said out loud, “thank you Lord.” And then remembering the lion he put his hand over his mouth and looked around. He didn’t want to make any open dinner invitations to the local animals.

Soon it was dark. It was almost impossible for Joe to see where he was going anymore. He started to call out to the Lord for help but even as he did the answer came. The clouds parted and a bright moonlight lit the pathway. Even when the trees should have blocked the light out somehow the light was still able to shine on the trail. Joe was much encouraged by this and picked up the pace. He was fairly running along until he got to the river.

He remembered this river. Several of the native guides had crossed the river first to be sure where you could stand and where you couldn’t and to see if there were any dangerous crocodiles or snakes in the water. Joe had waded into the water until it got up to his chest and then Bolie had laughed and picked him up and put him on his shoulders. But Bolie wasn’t here now to carry him across. He stood there staring at the river defeated. Had he come so far to be stopped now? He had no idea what to do.

The Lord appeared before Joe again smiling down on him, glowing in the dark. “Swim.” He said calmly as though the river weren’t dangerous. “You can do it. You know how to swim. Stick the spear down through your shirt and shorts so you don’t lose it, then your hands will be free to swim across.”

Joe was scared. He couldn’t force himself to get into the water. He had seen what a crocodile could do to an animal bigger than he was. But the Lord just smiled at him and nudged him on. “Well,” Joe thought, “the Lord wouldn’t tell me to do it if He wasn’t going to protect me and He is bigger than Bolie or dad put together.” Don’t misunderstand he was still scared stiff but after seeing how the Lord had taken care of him so far, he had to trust Him. No telling how many things he had rescued Joe from that he didn’t even know about. Joe eased into the water and began to swim. The current was gently pushing him down stream but he was strong enough to fight the current and keep his aim for the trail on the other side.

He was a good swimmer, his dad taught him. At the thought of his dad and how sick his dad was he swam harder. Just a little further and he would make it. A floating log bumped into his arm. He nudged it off but as he glanced back he saw that the floating log had evil glowing eyes staring right at him. He swam for the shore with all his might and was able to pull himself up on the bank and crawl away from the edge of the river. He looked back at the water. The crocodile was just a few feet away from him but he couldn’t seem to swim any closer so finally he just turned and swam away. Joe smiled, it was a funny sight that crocodile trying to swim toward him but not moving forward. The Lord was smiling too; He was pleased that Joe trusted Him. Joe’s mom says, “The Lord trusts us to love Him and loves us to trust Him.”

That swim took a lot out of Joe. He didn’t know how late it really was but he knew it was way past his bedtime. Joe was never any good at staying up late. He would just get too sleepy but this time Joe had the Lord’s help. As he forced himself to get up he could tell he was on his last ounce of strength but he had to keep going. He just tried not to think about how tired he was but how important it was that he not give up. He just kept pushing himself until finally as the first rays of daylight were setting the sky aglow he collapsed. He simply could not move another inch.

“This is it,” he thought, “I have failed and now everyone is going to die because of me.” Joe began to cry. Then he felt someone pulling him up. He looked around but no one was there. He managed to get to his feet but he told the Lord that he just didn’t have the strength to go on. He felt someone push him and kept pushing him until he had climbed to the top of the hill. There from the top of the hill in the morning glow he saw the village. He could hardly believe it, he made it.

His legs were wobbly and this was a big village. He knew he didn’t need to run all over town looking for the doctor. He just didn’t have the strength for that. “Lord,” he asked, “where do I go?” He noticed then that one of the houses seemed to stand out to him, so he headed for that one. He collapsed on the door. The doctor opened the door and helped Joe in. He quickly told the doctor the situation and the doctor began to gather the supplies he would need while Joe sat at the table. That’s the last thing Joe remembers.

He woke up in a bed with a sweet dark skinned lady trying to give him something to drink. She was talking to him in some other language Joe was too tired to try to figure out what she was saying. “Mom and Dad?” he managed to ask “Bolie?”

At Bolie’s name the lady smiled. “O.K.” she said so that Joe would understand. Then Joe went back to sleep. It felt so good to sleep. He found out later that the doctor had taken a helicopter in to the village to take care of the sick. “It was a miracle,” the doctor said, “that no had died. Because the fever everyone in the village had was deadly. Joe did have the sickness too but he had a much milder case than most of the others. The doctor was amazed that he made it through the jungle by himself not only because of his size and age but because he of the sickness. “How did you do it?” the doctor asked. Joe just smiled, “It was the Lord.”

“Of course.” The doctor said, “I should have known. Only the Lord could work such a miracle.”

It took several weeks for everything to get back to normal if there is a normal in the jungle and for everyone to regain their strength. The helicopter took Joe back to the village and he was glad he didn’t have to hike through the jungle. When Joe finally stood in front of the church to give his testimony about how the Lord took him through the jungle and miraculously took care of him, he was a changed boy. He was very humbled.

He told them that it took a desperate situation to get him to develop a relationship with the Lord and not just believe in him. But now he will never stop loving the Lord and worshiping Him.

When he went to sit down Bolie just rubbed his red hair. “The fire of the Lord is finally in your heart not just on your head.” Joe just grinned because it was true. When worship started Joe did his best to really enter in to worship. When the other boys started goofing off, like he taught them to, he gently reminded them, “It took an emergency to get me to take things seriously. What is it going to take for you to serving the Lord and worship Him?”

What is it going to take for you to get serious about serving the Lord and worshiping Him????