The Story Behind the Booklet
"Behold the Lamb of God"
"The circumstances under which this book was written can only be described as surreal, almost funny, and downright deliberate on the part of God, while the human beings involved remained wholly unsuspecting.
The year was 1990-something. The destination – the depths of the Nicaraguan rain forest. In places where citizens of the developed world rarely go – indeed rarely remember exist – a gathering was forming. People traveling for days, often on foot, machetes in hand, to hear what word these visitors brought with them. It wasn’t every day, after all, that anyone deigned or dared come to them where they were. It must be important.
Getting to this location, for the visitors, was a feat in itself. Landing in Managua was only the beginning. Buses and boats and trucks held together by not looking at them too hard all awaited Doug, Jeff, and Randy before they reached their final destination. But for Randy, the Lord had something different in mind…
The suspected culprit was the airplane food. After landing in Nicaragua, Randy soon became violently ill. Having endured many hardships on international trips to remote areas, Randy is one to push through, whenever possible, to be there for those he came to serve. And yet, this time it was a no-go. Randy was fully down for the count, but insisted the rest of the group proceed without him. They found a (generously named) hotel in the village, in which the only available room was the honeymoon suite. And so, in a luscious king-sized, heart-shaped bed, Randy sunk into sweaty delirium, retching and hoping to survive until his companions returned.
It was in this moment that the Holy Spirit shared the book you hold in your hand.
To this day, Randy hardly remembers writing it. In physical weakness and mental haze, the clear light of the Spirit broke through, and poured living water into and out of a very frail, earthen vessel.
After the sickness passed, and this gift from Lord’s heart had been safely committed to paper, Randy’s companions returned to collect him and take him on the second leg of their journey. Off they went into different depths of the forest, Randy only just coming to himself again. Yet as they traveled, almost as out of a dream, Randy seemed to know where they were! Shocked and a little disbelieving, yet morbidly curious, the travel party turned where he said to turn, after this tree and at that fork in the road and so on, following his directions until they came upon an orphanage tucked deep in the jungle. At that moment, a couple of barefoot smiling faces popped out and greeted Randy by name. Apparently, he had been there years earlier! It put everyone at ease to know his mind was starting to emerge from the fog, and his body too was slowly regaining strength.
It wasn’t a trip that anyone would jump to repeat – and yet, for the preciousness of the Lamb of God he began to behold in that honeymoon suite, and the eagerness of the Spirit for it to be shared with others… it was deeply worth it."
The year was 1990-something. The destination – the depths of the Nicaraguan rain forest. In places where citizens of the developed world rarely go – indeed rarely remember exist – a gathering was forming. People traveling for days, often on foot, machetes in hand, to hear what word these visitors brought with them. It wasn’t every day, after all, that anyone deigned or dared come to them where they were. It must be important.
Getting to this location, for the visitors, was a feat in itself. Landing in Managua was only the beginning. Buses and boats and trucks held together by not looking at them too hard all awaited Doug, Jeff, and Randy before they reached their final destination. But for Randy, the Lord had something different in mind…
The suspected culprit was the airplane food. After landing in Nicaragua, Randy soon became violently ill. Having endured many hardships on international trips to remote areas, Randy is one to push through, whenever possible, to be there for those he came to serve. And yet, this time it was a no-go. Randy was fully down for the count, but insisted the rest of the group proceed without him. They found a (generously named) hotel in the village, in which the only available room was the honeymoon suite. And so, in a luscious king-sized, heart-shaped bed, Randy sunk into sweaty delirium, retching and hoping to survive until his companions returned.
It was in this moment that the Holy Spirit shared the book you hold in your hand.
To this day, Randy hardly remembers writing it. In physical weakness and mental haze, the clear light of the Spirit broke through, and poured living water into and out of a very frail, earthen vessel.
After the sickness passed, and this gift from Lord’s heart had been safely committed to paper, Randy’s companions returned to collect him and take him on the second leg of their journey. Off they went into different depths of the forest, Randy only just coming to himself again. Yet as they traveled, almost as out of a dream, Randy seemed to know where they were! Shocked and a little disbelieving, yet morbidly curious, the travel party turned where he said to turn, after this tree and at that fork in the road and so on, following his directions until they came upon an orphanage tucked deep in the jungle. At that moment, a couple of barefoot smiling faces popped out and greeted Randy by name. Apparently, he had been there years earlier! It put everyone at ease to know his mind was starting to emerge from the fog, and his body too was slowly regaining strength.
It wasn’t a trip that anyone would jump to repeat – and yet, for the preciousness of the Lamb of God he began to behold in that honeymoon suite, and the eagerness of the Spirit for it to be shared with others… it was deeply worth it."
Click on the link above to order "Behold the Lamb of God" [R. T. Nusbaum] on Amazon.com. (If you leave a review for the book, it will help other hungry hearts discover that it is available!)
