(We are pausing the Jesus “I AM” series this week because of an incredible opportunity I had to interview Cyrus Mad-Bondo from WorldHelp.)
Backstory: 3 years ago, two close friends treated my wife and me to dinner, followed by a King and Country concert. The band was Australian, and my friend, his wife, my wife, and I all come from different parts of the world. We were all there to enjoy the music, worship, and praise God. My friend turned to me and said, “Only God can bring people together from all corners of the globe and work it for His glory.”
Last week at church, the African Chief Strategist for WorldHelp delivered a powerful testimony about his life, sharing the Gospel, and Grace. Two minutes into his message, I was bursting at the seems to talk with him. I yearned to know more about his story and to share it with others in my circle to aid his mission. I interviewed him twice, and not by our design! The first time, it was not transcribed, and there was no way I would capture his experiences, details, or quotes correctly. So he was gracious enough to do a second take. Even after our brief encounter, I consider Cyrus a brother and a friend.
“Major religions are mostly geographically bound to their homeland except Christianity which exhibits much more cultural diversity. This shows the cultural elasticity of the faith.
Christians make up almost 50% of the African population.”
Tim Keller
Christianity in Africa, South America, and parts of Southeast Asia is exploding. I asked Cyrus as one who spent his first 25 years of life in Africa, his take on the Tim Keller quote. “One thing I’ve personally experienced if you juxtapose life in these areas before and after Christianity was introduced to the communities—it’s like day and night. For instance, in the Central African Republic, before Christianity, you had animism, the worship of nature, and the trees.” He explained the fundamental flaw that faiths like animism have by worshipping a small “g” god. “So instead of worshiping the creator, they worship the creation.” We’re not much different in Western civilization in terms of money, celebrity idolatry, and technology, I thought to myself.
“The country of Rwanda is a case study on how Christianity in this 21st century has made a massive difference.” In 1994, Rwanda was engulfed in a horrific genocide fueled by ethnic tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi groups. Cyrus explained, “In just 90 days, 1.1 million people were killed in a country about the size of Maryland or New Jersey.” The difference about Christianity in these war-torn areas however, is exemplified in the various missions that serve there. “Chuck Colson’s prison fellowship and other Christian ministries have gone into Rwanda as it was rebuilding.” I learned from Cyrus that Christianity can be credited as a major player in Rwanda’s rebuild. “It is referred to as the Rwanda Miracle.”
Forgive us our debts,
as we also forgive our debtors.
Matthew 6:12
Explaining the relevance of Matthew 6 to me in a graphical, real-world context, Cyrus said, “Then, as we forgive, that’s what the people of Rwanda had to do. Essentially, Rwandans declared, ‘Despite all the killing, God has now forgiven us, and we owe it to each other to forgive.‘ So, had it not been for Christianity, the bitterness, the resentfulness, and lack of forgiveness would have destroyed the country of Rwanda.”
Rwanda is now recognized as the cleanest country in Africa. “Christianity has given a platform to the reconciliation of the country of Rwanda,” Cyrus declared. “And it’s not just Rwanda. After eight years of civil war, my country, the Central African Republic, received crucial support from Rwanda. Rwanda, remembering its own devastating genocide in 1994, was among the first East African nations to send 1,500 troops, declaring, We want to stand with you. We experienced this madness; we killed each other, and nobody stood up to help. We are watching what is happening and are sending soldiers as peacekeeping forces.”
Cyrus pointed out other attributes Christianity is delivering in Africa. “It is bringing literacy in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia — I know because I visited there.” Cyrus then told me about Matthew Parris, an atheist and an award-winning columnist. Parris wrote, “I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects, and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa, Christianity changes people’s hearts.” This must have been a bitter pill for an atheist to swallow.
“Parris crisscrossed the African continent,” Cyrus said. “There are villages where he used to see civil war until Christianity took root. The same people will look at each other just like the people of Rwanda with the attitude of I am going to be the last one to cry over the death of my loved one. I’m not going to use revenge. That is the model Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary had done in Luke 23:34. When he said, ‘Father, forgive them for they do not know what they’re doing.’”
Biblically, I understand the model of Jesus on the cross, but having someone who has witnessed a different version of it, who has lived it, brings more depth to the meaning and has led to an understanding of Christianity that transcends traditional ministries and teaching.
“The people of Rwanda, the people of Central African Republic, the people of Sierra Leone, any of the countries where war has happened, can trace why civility is returning in their countries because of what the Gospel’s teachings are about,” Cyrus added. “It’s not just to help them to change their eternal address from eternal hell, but the will of God is that we live honoring the image bearer that people are.
“Christianity is a way for nations to rebuild in a way that is sustainable. They are at peace with each other, and they can now live with a sense of stewardship to God, to each other, and, of course, their environment.”
Where did your relationship with Jesus begin?
Even before I asked him, I knew Cyrus would have a compelling and articulate response. His story of faith isn’t full of “I did this or I did that,” rituals, or obligations.
“Although I have so many things that I can look at,” he said, “I often open my preaching, my teaching, my speaking with saying the following: ‘I sit here as an expensive investment of collective hands.’ I didn’t get here because I am just the brightest or the cream of the crop. Beginning with my salvation, I must look back at what Christianity and Jesus Christ have done to bring me to where I am. My parents are the second generation of believers saved under the work of a particular missionary who brought the good news of the gospel. He was William Haas, a pastor from the United States. Initially, Haas didn’t want to go to Africa because of instability, the killings, the cannibalism. So he said, God, anywhere but Africa.” I’ve heard Cyrus tell me this a few times, and I chuckle each time. Don’t ever tell God what you will or won’t do. He’ll find a way for you to serve Him.
Cyrus continued, “About at that time, his wife and two daughters died. On October 15th, 1920, he resigned from his pastoral duties at a church in Northeast Ohio. Despite his initial reluctance to go to Africa, he felt convicted. How could he, a preacher of the gospel—that God so loved the world—exclude a portion of it from his ministry?
“He came to my home country of Central African Republic to bring the good news of the gospel. My grandparents and later my parents got saved. I grew up as the oldest son of 12 kids. I was just a good kid, but I was as wicked as any other conniving, manipulative kid. When you’re the oldest, you can do what is necessary to avoid trouble with your parents.”
Then came the difference maker. “One day, while in one of the churches planted by Baptist Mid-Missions founded by William Haas, a pastor let me know that one day I would stand alone before God.”
Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,
Hebrews 9:27
The universal truth for all humanity is captured so well in this passage of Hebrews. It’s not a matter of if we will die, but when. “Appointed” suggests a divine decree or established order, and that there are consequences to our lives. Well, 20-year-old Cyrus didn’t like the uneasy feeling of standing alone before God, giving full accounting to Him.
“You will stand before God,” Cyrus proclaimed. “Well, that’s when the Lord arrested me out of my pride, and it was in the spring of 1989. I was getting ready to get married. I began thinking about my own, not only my mortality but how I will face this God who has created me in light of the message that was preached.
“So, giving my life to Jesus Christ has changed the trajectory of my life. I wanted to go to school, study law, be the Chief Justice of our Supreme Court, and fight for justice. But the Lord has taught me that laws do not reach people’s consciences.”
I told him that in his mission work, preaching, and teaching, he is, in fact, “fighting for justice.” It’s just a different kind.
The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly,
Romans 5:20
“I thought I could change society from the bench,” he said. God must have intervened because Cyrus realized his decisions as a judge would not change somebody’s heart. “When the heart is surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, it helped me deal with the new direction my life would take and the studies I’ve been doing. Secondly, I would have the chance to come to the United States, thanks to my mother-in-law, who adopted my wife, Julie, as an orphan.”
My Mother-in-law: The Missionary from a Church in Ohio
“In taking care of my wife, the people in the villages saw this white medical missionary caring for a black baby who was unrelated to her but demonstrating the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Cyrus explained that the church that sent his mother-in-law to Africa who sponsored and raised his wife, was the same small church that they would later join while residing in the United States. He had finished his undergraduate and graduate studies at Liberty University when the church was struggling and almost closed its doors.
“Twelve people were left in that congregation, and half of them wanted to sell the building. As a church member, I got up at a business meeting, and I told them I felt uncomfortable with the decision to move on. We have stopped doing outreach. Like many other churches in America, we had become a maintenance ministry.
“I told them that 80 percent of churches in the United States stagnate and decline. Every year, 10 percent of those churches close their doors permanently. “
Apparently, the leadership wanted to see where the rubber met the road. “They wanted to know what I was going to do about it. So I said, well, I will make a fool of myself and my wife, and I became the pastor who shepherded that very same church that had sent the missionary to Africa.”
Irene
“Just two months after moving to Lynchburg, Virginia, I came home one day and parked the car behind the house. My youngest daughter, Irene, who was 10 years old and the youngest of our three children, knocked on my car window to ask for permission to swim at a neighbor's house, which is less than a five-minute walk from our home. I gave her permission to go swimming there.” His voice changed a bit, “I allowed her to go swimming at a friend’s house, and moments later, she drowned in a swimming pool accident.
“She was taken to the Lynchburg General Hospital, where the doctors tried to resuscitate her unsuccessfully, and of course, I was praying to the Lord that her life could be spared from this tragic accident. But, sadly, she passed away. I used my phone to call my mother in Africa to inform her about what had happened.”
Bless God. Praise God.
“I said, ‘Mom, Mom, I’m calling you about Irene. She came to ask me to go swimming. Moments later, she drowned in a swimming pool accident.’ The first word out of my mother’s mouth was, ‘Cyrus, the will of God has been done. Praise God, son. Cyrus, you hear me? Bless God.’ And she hung up the phone. I was calling her with the life-altering news.” There was astonishment and awe in Cyrus’ face as he described this scene to me. I’m still in amazement as I write this.
“For her to tell me what she said, I know she had a reason for it. I called her back, and she unpacked it to me when we talked. She said, ‘Cyrus, you’re not the first, nor will you be the last father to outlive your child.’ She pointed to the Bible, which was translated by William Haas,” — the missionary who lost two children. “And she said, ‘King David has lost a son. God said that the child was not going to come back but God will go to that child.’
“Then she mentioned the story of Job. Job was a Godly man of seven sons and three daughters. One day, all these kids were killed. When Job was told about it, he said the same thing as my mother asked me to do: Bless God and praise God.”
He said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked will I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be Yahweh’s name.”
Job 1:21
“My mother said, ‘Cyrus, do you realize that Satan only had the audacity to have had this conversation with God because God knows Job is faithful, because God protects everything?’ And she proceeded to say, ‘Do not wag your fingers at God. You’re going to need God for this journey.’”
Cyrus’ mother is a model of Christian faith and wisdom. Not having finished high school or divinity school, she knew the heart of the Gospel of Jesus better than most. Cyrus said, “She was discipling me on the phone from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, telling me, ‘Praise God, Bless God’s Son.’ She was right. She also reminded me that if I were bitter with God over the death of Irene, I would lose my mind, my job, and my marriage. ‘Are you prepared to pay this collateral damage of just one thing, she asked?’”
Many marriages that suffer from the loss of a child don’t survive. But Cyrus credits, “It’s only the grace of God that my wife and I are still together because we trust God to be a sovereign God. And the death of our daughter is only a reminder. We all have days that are numbered irrespective of our status, skin, or socioeconomic background, but the word of God makes it clear. Trust me, and I’ll watch your journey be about me.
“One thing that I learned in this business of helping people is that just as Jesus himself said, it’s better to give than to receive. In helping others, my wife and I find ourselves starting to heal from the death of our daughter.”
God’s Grace
“I was on another trip to Rwanda, and I met this girl, Clementine, who was in Primary school. She was shy as can be, but she resembled my daughter so stunningly. I took a picture with her, and I sent it to my wife. Immediately, my wife and my daughter said she looked just like Irene. We came to learn that this poor, precious girl had an alcoholic, abusive, neglectful father.
“My wife and I became her sponsors. By sponsoring this child, she could attend school and get an education. We sponsored Irene through school, and we even put her through undergraduate studies. As I was helping the Clementines of the world, I got to see the image of my daughter in her, the ‘stunning resemblance.‘ She book-ended her name with my wife and my names. She explained that it is a token of what we’ve done for her to become the woman that she is today. God is asking us the things that Jesus says in Matthew 28:20, teach them to observe all that I’ve commanded you.”
Teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Matthew 28:20
“I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Clementine. She calls me ‘Dad,’ and sometimes I ask her to repeat it. When her father came to the graduation in Kigali, wearing the best clothes he could, just to see the joy on his daughter's face, it was a moment I’ll never forget. Now, Clementine stands tall, ready to pursue graduate studies, and she's at a point where she can take care of herself.
“What I learned from Clementine is that we often focus on nursing our pain of grief instead of realizing what God can do with that pain. If we do like what the word of God says, we use the pain to comfort others. When we summon the courage and say, Lord, I may be, crying, but I will do what you want me to do, perhaps another Clementine’s life is going to be changed because we showed up.”
Tell Me More About WorldHelp?
“Serving the physical and spiritual needs of disaster victims and people in impoverished communities around the world.”
Cyrus explained that, “God isn’t trusting our organization with kingdom dollars and kingdom resources to use them wisely because of accountability, but most importantly, because of impact.” World Health’s founder wanted him to come join their team because of his background. “Being born and having spent 25 years in Africa, I aligned theologically with their convictions.”
Cyrus' journey is remarkable. Going from a shoeless child from an impoverished African nation, brought to the US with his wife by a missionary, eventually leading the church that facilitated his journey, and now impacting the world as a regional strategist for an international Christian non-profit. Only God could ordain a transformation like this.
Throughout our three-hour-long discussions this week, Cyrus unfolded more and more Godly wisdom nuggets to me. I can’t imagine the loss of a child. I think the closest I can picture of that level of anguish is Jesus on the cross. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). It was the only time Jesus did not refer to God as “Father.” Jesus took that pain to pay a debt we can’t. Cyrus showed me that life as a Christian is just as difficult as the life of a non-believer, but there is the hope of assurance from Jesus’ payment on that cross that comforts, heals, and blesses.
There’s something we can do here, something we’re supposed to do here in our brief time on Earth — make an impact.
Kingdom Impact
“You can focus on all the negativities of the world, but let your legacy be that, Lord because I live, one person can face tomorrow and face your glory and say, I was introduced to the Lord Jesus because of you. The Lord’s story is a display of his redemptive work. We owe it to others and to God to share our stories.
“Everything that we do, whether it’s just waving at somebody to say, ‘Are you okay? I see that you have a flat tire. Do ou want me to give you my cell phone for you to call?‘ Look, Christ can saturate the world with his ambassadors. Should we wish to be his ambassadors? All of these things are door openers every day.
“And that’s the kingdom impact I’m talking about.”
But God’s message of Christianity is that we’re supposed to live it, and I’m grateful that if people don’t see that, I want to encourage them to give God a try. And watch what you will do with your life.”
One who has my commandments and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. My Father will love one who love, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”
John 14:21
Cyrus ended our conversation with a heartfelt and beautiful prayer.
Key Life Applications from Cyrus:
How Can We Make A Kingdom Impact Locally and Globally
Pray, give, and go.
- Pray that the Lord will align our hearts to be about making Him known. God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked, So people need to know about the Creator who created them.
- Giving is to put your money where your mouth is. It’s gonna cost to make the gospel known.
- Join a group that your church is sending to go be the hands and the feet of Jesus. A lot of people say, well, why don’t I send money? It sounds good to send money, but if you don’t go, people may not know the person of Jesus.
Pray, give, and then go. And you can see that all of that honors the Lord.