As we get closer to the Big Move, I find myself reflecting on the implications and the absolute HUGE reality and of what this move means for all of us.
I know it doesn't mean for us what it means for many, many people who move to Argentina (or anywhere else in the world) from another country. Some, wealthy and priveleged, are going for business, to rub elbows with the upper crust, and have maids and tons of time on their hands. Others, young and adventerous, are going for a good time and the next adventure. Still others are going from bad to not so bad, actually looking for a better life in Argentina.
For us, it's none of those things. We are not wealthy. We are not young. We know Argentina for us, in the carnal, will not be a "better life". We will most likely (barring miraculous intervention from God himself) be poor, aging, and most likely struggling to adapt to life in the third world - which all equals harder. I'd be a masochist, or just plain stupid, if it weren't for God's call and His commands.
But you know what? I don't care. Because, even though I would love to be wealthy, young, and more comfortable with a "better life" - those things are secondary to me. I care about following Jesus and His commands. I care about making my life count. I care about lost souls. I care about the hungry, the fatherless, the widow. I care about taking all I have been given (which is too much) and using it, not for myself, but to bless others. I care about making a difference in this world for Christ, for Love, for Truth, for Goodness and for Eternity. I care about things that sometimes I wonder if the American church as a whole remembers to even preach about.
This has been a hard several weeks. My husband keeps telling me to be quiet already and don't make any commentaries! (it's that TMI curse I suffer from, it makes me lose friends because I am just too frank for my own good.) I'm trying really, really, really hard to listen to him. I really am.
See, my husband rocks. He's so smart and socially gifted. He has far surpassed me in graciousness that I am put to shame. I hope hanging out with him rubs off on me someday. I really do.
For now, it's just been a hard few weeks. I don't know what I can say except that I follow CHRIST. The Perfect One. He's telling us to go. I'm jumping off the crazy cliff and honestly, at the end of the day, could care less what anyone else thinks about it. Tony says to let everyone else deal with their own problems, you follow God. It's so easy for them, men. Sometimes I wish I were one.
I'm praying these days that God would help me not be a people-pleaser, and I pray that I don't raise man-pleasers or yes-men. Let them please only You. I pray that Tony and I live to only please the Lord, and that our kids always do what's right, no matter what the rest of the world chooses to do. Lord, don't let my kids be men-pleasers! May their lives honor You and you only. Use them to further your Good News upon this earth, that we and they may be messengers of the Hope we have in Christ, offered to all men. Let it be a true hope, a real, genuine, honest-to-God hope that is reflected in their lives, lived out by integrity. A tough one, indeed. A high calling.
Lord, I prayed years ago that you would "Send us!". Now I pray that you send my kids. I pray that my children, the ones you have gifted to me, be used to further your Kingdom here on earth. They belong to you, make their lives count.
Give us strength, grace, courage. Even when people criticize us, desert us, forget about us. You said that you would never leave us nor forsake us. Give us faith. Provide for us, please Lord, provide. Make our lives count for good.
Amen. Jesus.
Showing posts with label calling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calling. Show all posts
July 13, 2011
June 9, 2011
bonus
One of the great bonuses about walking this missions thing out is seeing how God is using it in other people's lives - to strengthen their faith, to encourage them unto good works, to reflect on their own lives, and to inspire them to obedience. At least that is what people have been saying to us. We praise God for that, and we thank Him for answering our prayers - because that has been our prayer exactly.
And, believe me, doing what we are doing has made us reflect on our own faith, as well. You can't do what we're doing and go a day without wondering, "What on earth are we doing?!". We always come to the conclusion that we know exactly what we are doing - we are following the One who commands us to go, who asks us to give back to Him the lives He has redeemed, who empowers us by faith, who strengthens us with grace upon grace, who upholds us with the Everlasting Arms. Walking this out has been the greatest blessing to us because we are getting to know God in such a greater way. We have seen how much we have put the Lord of the Universe in a box. We have defined Him, limited Him, boxed Him, not believed His Word, I mean really believed it - all of it - and He has shown us how dumb and small we really are and how big and powerful and good and faithful and GREAT He really is. I can only assume He will continue to do this even after we jump off the cliff and free fall into South American missions.
What is so awe-inspiring about taking your family halfway across the world to follow Truth? Is Truth not true? Is He not Who He says He is? Are we crazy, or just simply believing the truth? I think we are just simply believing what He has said in His very own Word, and we are simply trusting it to be true. Faith is only as good as its object. We are trusting in His promises, trusting in Him. That's all. No big deal.
Like I said before, I don't think missions is some special calling for the chosen few. I know some people believe that, but I don't. I really don't. That's like saying "serving" is some special calling. We are all called to serve, just as we are all called, as Christians, to missions. It may look different for you - you may not go to Argentina - but you are still called to missions if you are a Christian. Matthew 28 is for you, too.
Spurgeon said it so much better...
"No promise is of private interpretation. Whatever God has said to any one saint, he has said to all. When he opens a well for one, it is that all may drink. When he openeth a granary-door to give out food, there may be some one starving man who is the occasion of its being opened, but all hungry saints may come and feed too. Whether he gave the word to Abraham or to Moses, matters not, O believer; he has given it to thee as one of the covenanted seed. There is not a high blessing too lofty for thee, nor a wide mercy too extensive for thee. Lift up now thine eyes to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, for all this is thine. Climb to Pisgah’s top, and view the utmost limit of the divine promise, for the land is all thine own. There is not a brook of living water of which thou mayst not drink. If the land floweth with milk and honey, eat the honey and drink the milk, for both are thine. Be thou bold to believe, for he hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” In this promise, God gives to his people everything. “I will never leave thee.” Then no attribute of God can cease to be engaged for us. Is he mighty? He will show himself strong on the behalf of them that trust him. Is he love? Then with lovingkindness will he have mercy upon us. Whatever attributes may compose the character of Deity, every one of them to its fullest extent shall be engaged on our side. To put everything in one, there is nothing you can want, there is nothing you can ask for, there is nothing you can need in time or in eternity, there is nothing living, nothing dying, there is nothing in this world, nothing in the next world, there is nothing now, nothing at the resurrection-morning, nothing in heaven which is not contained in this text—“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”"
Yes, we are free to go, to follow - He will freely give. He will take care of us; we need not worry. We may go to Argentina (or China, or Timbuktu) and He will never leave us. Never.
Do you believe it?
And, believe me, doing what we are doing has made us reflect on our own faith, as well. You can't do what we're doing and go a day without wondering, "What on earth are we doing?!". We always come to the conclusion that we know exactly what we are doing - we are following the One who commands us to go, who asks us to give back to Him the lives He has redeemed, who empowers us by faith, who strengthens us with grace upon grace, who upholds us with the Everlasting Arms. Walking this out has been the greatest blessing to us because we are getting to know God in such a greater way. We have seen how much we have put the Lord of the Universe in a box. We have defined Him, limited Him, boxed Him, not believed His Word, I mean really believed it - all of it - and He has shown us how dumb and small we really are and how big and powerful and good and faithful and GREAT He really is. I can only assume He will continue to do this even after we jump off the cliff and free fall into South American missions.
"I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth are My followers." -John 18:37
What is so awe-inspiring about taking your family halfway across the world to follow Truth? Is Truth not true? Is He not Who He says He is? Are we crazy, or just simply believing the truth? I think we are just simply believing what He has said in His very own Word, and we are simply trusting it to be true. Faith is only as good as its object. We are trusting in His promises, trusting in Him. That's all. No big deal.
Like I said before, I don't think missions is some special calling for the chosen few. I know some people believe that, but I don't. I really don't. That's like saying "serving" is some special calling. We are all called to serve, just as we are all called, as Christians, to missions. It may look different for you - you may not go to Argentina - but you are still called to missions if you are a Christian. Matthew 28 is for you, too.
Spurgeon said it so much better...
“I will never leave thee.” -Hebrews 13:5
"No promise is of private interpretation. Whatever God has said to any one saint, he has said to all. When he opens a well for one, it is that all may drink. When he openeth a granary-door to give out food, there may be some one starving man who is the occasion of its being opened, but all hungry saints may come and feed too. Whether he gave the word to Abraham or to Moses, matters not, O believer; he has given it to thee as one of the covenanted seed. There is not a high blessing too lofty for thee, nor a wide mercy too extensive for thee. Lift up now thine eyes to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, for all this is thine. Climb to Pisgah’s top, and view the utmost limit of the divine promise, for the land is all thine own. There is not a brook of living water of which thou mayst not drink. If the land floweth with milk and honey, eat the honey and drink the milk, for both are thine. Be thou bold to believe, for he hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” In this promise, God gives to his people everything. “I will never leave thee.” Then no attribute of God can cease to be engaged for us. Is he mighty? He will show himself strong on the behalf of them that trust him. Is he love? Then with lovingkindness will he have mercy upon us. Whatever attributes may compose the character of Deity, every one of them to its fullest extent shall be engaged on our side. To put everything in one, there is nothing you can want, there is nothing you can ask for, there is nothing you can need in time or in eternity, there is nothing living, nothing dying, there is nothing in this world, nothing in the next world, there is nothing now, nothing at the resurrection-morning, nothing in heaven which is not contained in this text—“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”"
Yes, we are free to go, to follow - He will freely give. He will take care of us; we need not worry. We may go to Argentina (or China, or Timbuktu) and He will never leave us. Never.
Do you believe it?
May 16, 2011
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature... We are ambassadors for Christ... as workers together with him... and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again... for we walk by faith, not by sight... Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." - Mark 16:15; 2 Cor. 5:20, 6:1, 5:15, 5:7, 3:17; Matt 9:37
Are you working in the field, or are you living for yourself?
January 25, 2011
The Most Important Issue We Face Today
"But the most important issue we face today is the same the church has faced in every century: Will we reach our world for Christ? In other words, will we give priority to Christ's command to go into all the world and preach the gospel?
Or will we turn increasingly inward, caught up in our own internal affairs or controversies, or simply becoming more and more comfortable with the status quo? Will we become inner-directed or outer-directed? The central issues of our time aren't economic or political or social, important as these are. The central issues of our time are moral and spiritual in nature, and our calling is to declare Christ's forgiveness and hope and transforming power to a world that does not know him or follow him. May we never forget this."
~a little Q&A with Billy Graham
December 3, 2010
November 19, 2010
The Call for Missionaries
Lottie Moon, missionary to China from 1873-1912, once wrote this challenging letter back home,
"It is odd that the million Baptists in the South can furnish only three men for all China. Odd that five hundred Baptist preachers in the state of Virginia alone must rely on a Presbyterian minister to fill in a Baptist pulpit. I wonder how these things look in Heaven. They certainly look very queer in China."
Missionaries today are still making the same appeal. Yesterday we received a newsletter from missionaries in Ecuador. They write,
"There are two kingdoms. The kingdom of this world, and the kingdom of God. We have to decide which kingdom is ours. Yet most of us like to keep our foot in the door of the world. We need to pull that doorstop out and be freed to live out God’s ideas.
We are misguided if we think that our life goals must be:
But isn't that what the sleeping giant of the American church believes? In the nine years I have been back in the States, I have not met one Christian person, one Christian family who has left for the mission field; who has left to take the light to those who haven't even had the opportunity to hear in the darker corners of the world. Not one. Be willing is not enough - not enough to get one Evenk saved.
Something is wrong. Something is very wrong, indeed.
"It is odd that the million Baptists in the South can furnish only three men for all China. Odd that five hundred Baptist preachers in the state of Virginia alone must rely on a Presbyterian minister to fill in a Baptist pulpit. I wonder how these things look in Heaven. They certainly look very queer in China."
Missionaries today are still making the same appeal. Yesterday we received a newsletter from missionaries in Ecuador. They write,
"There are two kingdoms. The kingdom of this world, and the kingdom of God. We have to decide which kingdom is ours. Yet most of us like to keep our foot in the door of the world. We need to pull that doorstop out and be freed to live out God’s ideas.
We are misguided if we think that our life goals must be:
- education
- marriage
- own a house
- profession
- possessions
- retirement
But isn't that what the sleeping giant of the American church believes? In the nine years I have been back in the States, I have not met one Christian person, one Christian family who has left for the mission field; who has left to take the light to those who haven't even had the opportunity to hear in the darker corners of the world. Not one. Be willing is not enough - not enough to get one Evenk saved.
Something is wrong. Something is very wrong, indeed.
November 10, 2010
The Great Commission
... is for all of us who call ourselves Christians. It is a command, not a special calling.
Watch this video:
I think we think and talk about it all wrong in the church. As Hudson Taylor put it,
"It will not due to say that you have no special call to go. With these facts before you and the command of the Lord Jesus to go... you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home."
Watch this video:
I think we think and talk about it all wrong in the church. As Hudson Taylor put it,
"It will not due to say that you have no special call to go. With these facts before you and the command of the Lord Jesus to go... you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home."
August 4, 2010
3 questions every Christian needs to ask
- In one sentence, what is the single most important thing you are going to do with the rest of your life? (It can not be self-centered or wordly in nature, and it has to bring glory to God).
- Why do you think God has allowed you to be born in North America or Europe rather than among the poor of Africa and Asia and to be blessed with such material and spiritual abundance?
- In light of the superabundance you enjoy here, what do you think is your minimal responsibility to the untold millions of lost and suffering in the Two-Thirds World?
~from Revolution in World Missions
by K.P. Yohannan
order it free here
:)
July 30, 2010
When the Rubber Hits the Road: Accountability and Turning Back
I read Proverbs 24:11-12 this morning. The Spanish made total sense to me, but I needed to look up the English in various translations to make sure I really understood what God is saying. Or maybe thinking I might find a way out of what He is saying?
PROVERBS 24:11
New International Version (©1984)
Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
New Living Translation (©2007)
Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die; save them as they stagger to their death.
English Standard Version (©2001)
Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
(more)
PROVERBS 24:12
New International Version (©1984)
If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?
New Living Translation (©2007)
Don't excuse yourself by saying, "Look, we didn't know." For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.
English Standard Version (©2001)
If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?
(more)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eek...
There's no turning back once you know. Duty left undone is sin. God will hold us accountable for what we have done in this life, but also for what we have not done that we knew we should do (James 4:17).
Tony and I know what we need to do, it's too late to plead ignorance. All my doubts, all our doubts and questions, are of no account. I could list them all here, but what's the point? The word of God speaks.
Walking forward...
PROVERBS 24:11
New International Version (©1984)
Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
New Living Translation (©2007)
Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die; save them as they stagger to their death.
English Standard Version (©2001)
Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
(more)
PROVERBS 24:12
New International Version (©1984)
If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?
New Living Translation (©2007)
Don't excuse yourself by saying, "Look, we didn't know." For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.
English Standard Version (©2001)
If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?
(more)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eek...
There's no turning back once you know. Duty left undone is sin. God will hold us accountable for what we have done in this life, but also for what we have not done that we knew we should do (James 4:17).
Tony and I know what we need to do, it's too late to plead ignorance. All my doubts, all our doubts and questions, are of no account. I could list them all here, but what's the point? The word of God speaks.
Walking forward...
July 7, 2010
All Noble Things Are Difficult
"...narrow is the way..." Matt. 7:14
Thank God for Oswald Chambers. I don't know what I would do without his little book of devotions. Encouragement comes at just the right time.
I've been struggling a little - not too much, but a little - as we seriously consider moving to Argentina. We are sure God is calling us, it is unmistakeable. He never stops calling. He is relentless.
But we doubt.
We doubt how it would go. We doubt how we could make a living and pay the bills. We (or, at least Tony) doubt that I could handle it (in my mind I am Superwoman :D, but then there is reality). We doubt a million things.
And then I read today's entry in My Utmost:
"Enter ye in at the strait gate . . because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way. . ." Matthew 7:13-14
If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all noble things are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but the difficulty of it does not make us faint and cave in, it rouses us up to overcome. Do we so appreciate the marvellous salvation of Jesus Christ that we are our utmost for His highest?
God saves men by His sovereign grace through the Atonement of Jesus; He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure; but we have to work out that salvation in practical living. If once we start on the basis of His Redemption to do what He commands, we find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not practised. The crisis will reveal whether we have been practising or not. If we obey the Spirit of God and practise in our physical life what God has put in us by His Spirit, then when the crisis comes, we shall find that our own nature as well as the grace of God will stand by us.
Thank God He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a glad thing, but it is also a heroic, holy thing. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is bringing many "sons" unto glory, and God will not shield us from the requirements of a son. God's grace turns out men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not milk sops. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the noble life of a disciple of Jesus in actual things. It is always necessary to make an effort to be noble.
The noble thing God is calling us to do is move to Argentina. Moving to Argentina is definately noble. One does not move there looking for a better life, a life of ease. Unless you are wealthy. Which we are not.
Moving there to take the Gospel of Christ to those who have not heard, in the hopes that a few will be saved, is noble. Leaving everything for poverty, struggle, worry, want, need, danger, persecution, loneliness, misunderstanding, and overall difficulty is not what I would chose for myself in this life. My flesh wants to remain in comfort where things are easy. Life is so easy here. And, mind you, we are "poor". But the poor in America are infinitely more well off than the poor in other parts of the world. The poor here are quite wealthy. We live like kings. We really do, and we know it.
But the still small voice is still there, whispering.
Oh, but to follow God...! What a beautiful and glorious thing! I don't want to miss it. I want HIM, more and more and more of Him. I guess I just wish it didn't cost.
Hmm.
It costs.
Thank God for Oswald Chambers. I don't know what I would do without his little book of devotions. Encouragement comes at just the right time.
I've been struggling a little - not too much, but a little - as we seriously consider moving to Argentina. We are sure God is calling us, it is unmistakeable. He never stops calling. He is relentless.
But we doubt.
We doubt how it would go. We doubt how we could make a living and pay the bills. We (or, at least Tony) doubt that I could handle it (in my mind I am Superwoman :D, but then there is reality). We doubt a million things.
And then I read today's entry in My Utmost:
"Enter ye in at the strait gate . . because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way. . ." Matthew 7:13-14
If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all noble things are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but the difficulty of it does not make us faint and cave in, it rouses us up to overcome. Do we so appreciate the marvellous salvation of Jesus Christ that we are our utmost for His highest?
God saves men by His sovereign grace through the Atonement of Jesus; He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure; but we have to work out that salvation in practical living. If once we start on the basis of His Redemption to do what He commands, we find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not practised. The crisis will reveal whether we have been practising or not. If we obey the Spirit of God and practise in our physical life what God has put in us by His Spirit, then when the crisis comes, we shall find that our own nature as well as the grace of God will stand by us.
Thank God He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a glad thing, but it is also a heroic, holy thing. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is bringing many "sons" unto glory, and God will not shield us from the requirements of a son. God's grace turns out men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not milk sops. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the noble life of a disciple of Jesus in actual things. It is always necessary to make an effort to be noble.
The noble thing God is calling us to do is move to Argentina. Moving to Argentina is definately noble. One does not move there looking for a better life, a life of ease. Unless you are wealthy. Which we are not.
Moving there to take the Gospel of Christ to those who have not heard, in the hopes that a few will be saved, is noble. Leaving everything for poverty, struggle, worry, want, need, danger, persecution, loneliness, misunderstanding, and overall difficulty is not what I would chose for myself in this life. My flesh wants to remain in comfort where things are easy. Life is so easy here. And, mind you, we are "poor". But the poor in America are infinitely more well off than the poor in other parts of the world. The poor here are quite wealthy. We live like kings. We really do, and we know it.
But the still small voice is still there, whispering.
Oh, but to follow God...! What a beautiful and glorious thing! I don't want to miss it. I want HIM, more and more and more of Him. I guess I just wish it didn't cost.
Hmm.
It costs.
June 30, 2010
What Jesus Can Do
Wow, what a testimony!
Thanks, bloggy queen, for posting! :) I hope everybody watches this one!
Thanks, bloggy queen, for posting! :) I hope everybody watches this one!
June 29, 2010
I Am Apprehended
from yesterday's My Utmost for His Highest...
"If that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended." Philippians 3:12
Never choose to be a worker; but when once God has put His call on you, woe be to you if you turn to the right hand or to the left. We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has apprehended us. There is never any thought of - "Oh, well, I am not fitted for this."...
"I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do . . ."
"If that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended." Philippians 3:12
Never choose to be a worker; but when once God has put His call on you, woe be to you if you turn to the right hand or to the left. We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has apprehended us. There is never any thought of - "Oh, well, I am not fitted for this."...
"I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do . . ."
Am I Called?
I don't know if other people think about this question, but I do often. I love what New Tribes Mission says to all believers in response to this question (from their website):
Am I called?
Yes. God's called all believers to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). So you need to discover what He specifically wants you to do. He's not hiding that from you; God desires to lead and guide us. You should spend time in prayer and in His Word, and seek godly counsel. And please consider this: You are already reading a website designed to help you take part in planting churches among unreached tribal people. Look for His guidance and follow His lead, one step at a time.
:)
Am I called?
Yes. God's called all believers to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). So you need to discover what He specifically wants you to do. He's not hiding that from you; God desires to lead and guide us. You should spend time in prayer and in His Word, and seek godly counsel. And please consider this: You are already reading a website designed to help you take part in planting churches among unreached tribal people. Look for His guidance and follow His lead, one step at a time.
:)
June 23, 2010
Go, Send, or Disobey
An excerpt (pp.38-39):
The church was full. I had been reading about New Guinea and was looking forward to a firsthand report.
Mr. Rayburn showed movies that he had taken. In one scene, a man was eating a rat. You could see the tail hanging out of the man's mouth - then, phht, it was gone.
"That fellow eating the rat there. He's not a Christian," Mr. Rayburn said.
Poor fellow, I thought, remembering how miserable I had been before becoming a Christian.
There were other pictures: some of extreme poverty in the midst of modern cities, some of "natives" and their odd clothes, houses and eating habits. Then Mr. Rayburn made his appeal.
"These people are starving, dying of disease, living in ignorance, eating rats. But most of all they are starving for the knowledge of Jesus Christ. They are dying lost, without knowing how Jesus Christ can save them from their sins. Can you sit comfortably in your seats and accept that? They're dying, damned to eternal condemnation! And what do you do? Maybe if you're really virtuous you put a little money in the collection plate on Sunday morning. Maybe you put in a dollar to reach these people starving for the gospel.
"But Jesus wants more of you. He wants more than your lip service to the great cause of missions. It's your responsibility to take the gospel of Christ to these people. Otherwise their blood will be required of you."
That is exactly how I feel.
John Piper put it this way, "Go, send, or disobey."
And my heart resounds in agreement with Amanda Berry Smith: "To stay here and disobey God — I can't afford to take the consequence. I would rather go and obey God than to stay here and know that I disobeyed."
:)
June 3, 2010
May 28, 2010
May 27, 2010
The Rest of Our Lives Suspended... Thoughts on Being Called
"What agonies I suffered as a young woman, straining my ears to catch the voice, full of fear that I would miss it, yet longing to hear it, longing to be told what to do, in order that I might do it. That desire is a pure one. Most of our desires are tainted at least a little, but the desire to do the will of God surely is our highest. Is it reasonable to think that God would not finally reveal it to us? Is it (we must also ask) reasonable not to use our powers of reason, given to us by him? Does it make more sense to go to the grocery store because groceries are needed than to go to foreign lands because workers are needed? If we deny the simple logic of going where the need is most desperate, we may... spend the rest of our lives suspended..."
I have thought about the whole issue of "being called" for years. The calling has always (for me) been based first and foremost, even solely, in God's word. I have never needed to hear a voice, I've never prayed for a "sign", and have never really expected either. It's plain as day to me that I am "called" because I can read God's word in the Bible. But God doesn't call me to be a missionary, he commands me to go. He commands so many things, I can find out what they are if I simply open my Bible. The question is not the call, it's the obedience. It's not about feeling called, it's about obeying God's commands.
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22
The word "missionary" never actually appears in the Bible. God calls us witnesses. A witness is someone who has seen something. We are all called to be witnesses for Christ. You are either a good one, or a bad one. But you are one.
Most of us know what we are called to. We just get stuck on the obedience part.
Did Jesus say that only certain people are called to be workers in the Kingdom?
To fulfill the Great Comission?
Did Jesus say you must go to seminary first? (not that this is bad)
Don't wait for a special sign.
Don't wait for the sky to part and angels to sing the Hallelujah Chorus.
Don't wait your whole life for the "right" time. Don't wait until you're "ready" (whatever that means). The sign may never come, it's potentially never the right time, and you will never be fully ready. It's kind of like parenthood, you decide to go for it, and then you find out the only way you can survive it is by the grace of God.
My two cents, for what it's worth. (not that you should listen to me) :D
*photo credit The Cloud Appreciation Society*
April 26, 2010
Awesome Missionary Quotes
I am such a missions freak. I don't know how you can be a Christian and not be! I have to copy and paste ALL of these because the Church and Body of Christ NEEDS to read them!
(from http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/slogans.htm)
"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light" — John Keith Falconer
"God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply" — Hudson Taylor
"God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him" — Hudson Taylor
"The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed" — Hudson Taylor
"If I had 1,000 lives, I'd give them all for China" — Hudson Taylor
"God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him." — Hudson Taylor, missionary to China
"Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God" — William Carey, who is called the father of modern missions
"To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map." — William Carey, pioneer missionary to India
"Is not the commission of our Lord still binding upon us? Can we not do more than now we are doing?" — William Carey
"The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become." — Henry Martyn, missionary to India and Persia
"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" — Jim Elliot, missionary martyr who lost his life in the late 1950's trying to reach the Auca Indians of Ecuador
"We are debtors to every man to give him the gospel in the same measure in which we have received it" — P.F. Bresee, founder of the Church of the Nazarene
"In the vast plain to the north I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been" — Robert Moffat, who inspired David Livingstone
"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?" — David Livingstone
"Sympathy is no substitute for action." — David Livingstone, missionary to Africa
"Can't you do just a little bit more?" — J.G. Morrison pleading with Nazarenes in the 1930's Great Depression to support their missionaries
"Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us." — Keith Wright
"The Bible is not the basis of missions; missions is the basis of the Bible" — Ralph Winter, missiologist
On the importance of mission education: "God cannot lead you on the basis of information you do not have" — Ralph Winter, missiologist
"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." — C.T. Studd
"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him." — C.T. Studd
"Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible." — C.T. Studd
"No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once." — Oswald J. Smith
"Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist." — Oswald J. Smith
"The mission of the church is missions" — Oswald J. Smith
"We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first." — Oswald J. Smith
"This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of souls on the earth!" — Keith Green
"There is nothing in the world or the Church — except the church's disobedience — to render the evangelization of the world in this generation an impossibility." — Robert Speer, leader in Student Volunteer Movement
"If God calls you to be a missionary, don't stoop to be a king" — Jordan Grooms (variations of this also credited to G. K. Chesterson, Thomas Carlyle and Charles Haddon Spurgeon)
"If you found a cure for cancer, wouldn't it be inconceivable to hide it from the rest of mankind? How much more inconceivable to keep silent the cure from the eternal wages of death." — Dave Davidson
"World missions was on God's mind from the beginning." — Dave Davidson
"In our lifetime, wouldn't it be sad if we spent more time washing dishes or swatting flies or mowing the yard or watching television than praying for world missions?" — Dave Davidson
"Let my heart be broken with the things that break God's heart" — Bob Pierce, World Vision founder
"No reserves. No retreats. No regrets" — William Borden
"If ten men are carrying a log — nine of them on the little end and one at the heavy end — and you want to help, which end will you lift on?" — William Borden, as he reflected on the numbers of Christian workers in the U.S. as compared to those among unreached peoples in China
"The reason some folks don't believe in missions is that the brand of religion they have isn't worth propagating." — unknown
When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back, saying, "You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages." To that, Calvert replied, "We died before we came here."
"Someone asked Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved? It is more a question with me whether we — who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not — can be saved." — Charles Spurgeon
"The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time" — Carl F. H. Henry
"Our God of Grace often gives us a second chance, but there is no second chance to harvest a ripe crop." — Kurt von Schleicher [ Apple pickers' parable ]
"Missions is the overflow of our delight in God because missions is the overflow of God's delight in being God." --John Piper
"God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of His name among the nations. Therefore, let us bring our affections into line with His, and, for the sake of His name, let us renounce the quest for worldly comforts and join His global purpose." — John Piper
"Go, send, or disobey." — John Piper
"You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving." — Amy Carmichael, missionary to India
"Only as the church fulfills her missionary obligation does she justify her existence." — Unknown
"As long as there are millions destitute of the Word of God and knowledge of Jesus Christ, it will be impossible for me to devote time and energy to those who have both." — J. L. Ewen
"The command has been to 'go,' but we have stayed — in body, gifts, prayer and influence. He has asked us to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth ... but 99% of Christians have kept puttering around in the homeland." — Robert Savage, Latin American Mission
"People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives ... and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted." — Nate Saint, missionary martyr [ devotional thoughts ]
"We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God." — John Stott
"Believers who have the gospel keep mumbling it over and over to themselves. Meanwhile, millions who have never heard it once fall into the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story." — K.P. Yohannan, founder of Gospel for Asia Bible Society
"Tell the students to give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ." — Francis Xavier, missionary to India, the Philippines, and Japan
"The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity." — Mike Stachura
"The true greatness of any church in not how many it seats but how many it sends!" — Unknown
"'Not called!' did you say?
'Not heard the call,' I think you should say.
Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world. — William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army
"It is not in our choice to spread the gospel or not. It is our death if we do not." — Peter Taylor Forsyth
"If God's love is for anybody anywhere, it's for everybody everywhere." — Edward Lawlor, Nazarene General Superintendent
"Never pity missionaries; envy them. They are where the real action is — where life and death, sin and grace, Heaven and Hell converge." — Robert C. Shannon
"People who don't believe in missions have not read the New Testament. Right from the beginning Jesus said the field is the world. The early church took Him at His word and went East, West, North and South." — J. Howard Edington
"It is possible for the most obscure person in a church, with a heart right toward God, to exercise as much power for the evangelization of the world, as it is for those who stand in the most prominent positions." — John R. Mott
"In no other way can the believer become as fully involved with God's work, especially the work of world evangelism, as in intercessory prayer." — Dick Eastman, president of Every Home for Christ (formerly World Literature Crusade)
"What's your dream and to what corner of the missions world will it take you?" — Eleanor Roat, missions mobilizer
"We can reach our world, if we will. The greatest lack today is not people or funds. The greatest need is prayer." — Wesley Duewel, head of OMS International
"Love is the root of missions; sacrifice is the fruit of missions" — Roderick Davis
"Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love" — Roland Allen
"I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ." — Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf
"If you take missions out of the Bible, you won't have anything left but the covers" — Nina Gunter
"If the Church is 'in Christ,' she is involved in mission. Her whole existence then has a missionary character. Her conduct as well as her words will convince the unbelievers and put their ignorance and stupidity to silence." — David Bosch
"Missions is not the 'ministry of choice' for a few hyperactive Christians in the church. Missions is the purpose of the church." — Unknown
"The concern for world evangelization is not something tacked on to a man's personal Christianity, which he may take or leave as he chooses. It is rooted in the character of the God who has come to us in Christ Jesus. Thus, it can never be the province of a few enthusiasts, a sideline or a specialty of those who happen to have a bent that way. It is the distinctive mark of being a Christian." — James S. Stewart
"The average pastor views his church as a local church with a missions program; while he ought to realize that if he is in fact pastoring a church, it is to be a global church with a missions purpose." — Unknown
"The Christian is not obedient unless he is doing all in his power to send the Gospel to the heathen world." — A. B. Simpson [ missionary hymns by Simpson ]
"Prayer is the mighty engine that is to move the missionary work." — A.B. Simpson
"The will of God — nothing less, nothing more, nothing else." — F. E. Marsh (also attributed to Bobby Richardson)
"If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big; they are too small." — Pat Morley
"If missions languish, it is because the whole life of godliness is feeble. The command to go everywhere and preach to everybody is not obeyed until the will is lost by self-surrender in the will of God. Living, praying, giving and going will always be found together." — Arthur T. Pierson
"The history of missions is the history of answered prayer." — Samuel Zwemer
"'Go ye' is as much a part of Christ's Gospel as 'Come unto Me.' You are not even a Christian until you have honestly faced your responsibility in regard to the carrying of the Gospel to the ends of the earth." — J. Stuart Holden
"A congregation that is not deeply and earnestly involved in the worldwide proclamation of the gospel does not understand the nature of salvation." — Ted Engstrom, World Vision
"To stay here and disobey God — I can't afford to take the consequence. I would rather go and obey God than to stay here and know that I disobeyed." — Amanda Berry Smith
"I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth. It is not God who does not call. It is man who will not respond!" — Isobel Kuhn, missionary to China and Thailand
"God is a God of missions. He wills missions. He commands missions. He demands missions. He made missions possible through His Son. He made missions actual in sending the Holy Spirit." — George W. Peters
"The best remedy for a sick church is to put it on a missionary diet." — Unknown
"The Church must send or the church will end." — Mendell Taylor
(from http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/slogans.htm)
"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light" — John Keith Falconer
"God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply" — Hudson Taylor
"God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him" — Hudson Taylor
"The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed" — Hudson Taylor
"If I had 1,000 lives, I'd give them all for China" — Hudson Taylor
"God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him." — Hudson Taylor, missionary to China
"Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God" — William Carey, who is called the father of modern missions
"To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map." — William Carey, pioneer missionary to India
"Is not the commission of our Lord still binding upon us? Can we not do more than now we are doing?" — William Carey
"The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become." — Henry Martyn, missionary to India and Persia
"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" — Jim Elliot, missionary martyr who lost his life in the late 1950's trying to reach the Auca Indians of Ecuador
"We are debtors to every man to give him the gospel in the same measure in which we have received it" — P.F. Bresee, founder of the Church of the Nazarene
"In the vast plain to the north I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been" — Robert Moffat, who inspired David Livingstone
"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?" — David Livingstone
"Sympathy is no substitute for action." — David Livingstone, missionary to Africa
"Can't you do just a little bit more?" — J.G. Morrison pleading with Nazarenes in the 1930's Great Depression to support their missionaries
"Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us." — Keith Wright
"The Bible is not the basis of missions; missions is the basis of the Bible" — Ralph Winter, missiologist
On the importance of mission education: "God cannot lead you on the basis of information you do not have" — Ralph Winter, missiologist
"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." — C.T. Studd
"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him." — C.T. Studd
"Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible." — C.T. Studd
"No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once." — Oswald J. Smith
"Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist." — Oswald J. Smith
"The mission of the church is missions" — Oswald J. Smith
"We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first." — Oswald J. Smith
"This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of souls on the earth!" — Keith Green
"There is nothing in the world or the Church — except the church's disobedience — to render the evangelization of the world in this generation an impossibility." — Robert Speer, leader in Student Volunteer Movement
"If God calls you to be a missionary, don't stoop to be a king" — Jordan Grooms (variations of this also credited to G. K. Chesterson, Thomas Carlyle and Charles Haddon Spurgeon)
"If you found a cure for cancer, wouldn't it be inconceivable to hide it from the rest of mankind? How much more inconceivable to keep silent the cure from the eternal wages of death." — Dave Davidson
"World missions was on God's mind from the beginning." — Dave Davidson
"In our lifetime, wouldn't it be sad if we spent more time washing dishes or swatting flies or mowing the yard or watching television than praying for world missions?" — Dave Davidson
"Let my heart be broken with the things that break God's heart" — Bob Pierce, World Vision founder
"No reserves. No retreats. No regrets" — William Borden
"If ten men are carrying a log — nine of them on the little end and one at the heavy end — and you want to help, which end will you lift on?" — William Borden, as he reflected on the numbers of Christian workers in the U.S. as compared to those among unreached peoples in China
"The reason some folks don't believe in missions is that the brand of religion they have isn't worth propagating." — unknown
When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back, saying, "You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages." To that, Calvert replied, "We died before we came here."
"Someone asked Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved? It is more a question with me whether we — who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not — can be saved." — Charles Spurgeon
"The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time" — Carl F. H. Henry
"Our God of Grace often gives us a second chance, but there is no second chance to harvest a ripe crop." — Kurt von Schleicher [ Apple pickers' parable ]
"Missions is the overflow of our delight in God because missions is the overflow of God's delight in being God." --John Piper
"God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of His name among the nations. Therefore, let us bring our affections into line with His, and, for the sake of His name, let us renounce the quest for worldly comforts and join His global purpose." — John Piper
"Go, send, or disobey." — John Piper
"You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving." — Amy Carmichael, missionary to India
"Only as the church fulfills her missionary obligation does she justify her existence." — Unknown
"As long as there are millions destitute of the Word of God and knowledge of Jesus Christ, it will be impossible for me to devote time and energy to those who have both." — J. L. Ewen
"The command has been to 'go,' but we have stayed — in body, gifts, prayer and influence. He has asked us to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth ... but 99% of Christians have kept puttering around in the homeland." — Robert Savage, Latin American Mission
"People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives ... and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted." — Nate Saint, missionary martyr [ devotional thoughts ]
"We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God." — John Stott
"Believers who have the gospel keep mumbling it over and over to themselves. Meanwhile, millions who have never heard it once fall into the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story." — K.P. Yohannan, founder of Gospel for Asia Bible Society
"Tell the students to give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ." — Francis Xavier, missionary to India, the Philippines, and Japan
"The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity." — Mike Stachura
"The true greatness of any church in not how many it seats but how many it sends!" — Unknown
"'Not called!' did you say?
'Not heard the call,' I think you should say.
Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world. — William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army
"It is not in our choice to spread the gospel or not. It is our death if we do not." — Peter Taylor Forsyth
"If God's love is for anybody anywhere, it's for everybody everywhere." — Edward Lawlor, Nazarene General Superintendent
"Never pity missionaries; envy them. They are where the real action is — where life and death, sin and grace, Heaven and Hell converge." — Robert C. Shannon
"People who don't believe in missions have not read the New Testament. Right from the beginning Jesus said the field is the world. The early church took Him at His word and went East, West, North and South." — J. Howard Edington
"It is possible for the most obscure person in a church, with a heart right toward God, to exercise as much power for the evangelization of the world, as it is for those who stand in the most prominent positions." — John R. Mott
"In no other way can the believer become as fully involved with God's work, especially the work of world evangelism, as in intercessory prayer." — Dick Eastman, president of Every Home for Christ (formerly World Literature Crusade)
"What's your dream and to what corner of the missions world will it take you?" — Eleanor Roat, missions mobilizer
"We can reach our world, if we will. The greatest lack today is not people or funds. The greatest need is prayer." — Wesley Duewel, head of OMS International
"Love is the root of missions; sacrifice is the fruit of missions" — Roderick Davis
"Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love" — Roland Allen
"I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ." — Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf
"If you take missions out of the Bible, you won't have anything left but the covers" — Nina Gunter
"If the Church is 'in Christ,' she is involved in mission. Her whole existence then has a missionary character. Her conduct as well as her words will convince the unbelievers and put their ignorance and stupidity to silence." — David Bosch
"Missions is not the 'ministry of choice' for a few hyperactive Christians in the church. Missions is the purpose of the church." — Unknown
"The concern for world evangelization is not something tacked on to a man's personal Christianity, which he may take or leave as he chooses. It is rooted in the character of the God who has come to us in Christ Jesus. Thus, it can never be the province of a few enthusiasts, a sideline or a specialty of those who happen to have a bent that way. It is the distinctive mark of being a Christian." — James S. Stewart
"The average pastor views his church as a local church with a missions program; while he ought to realize that if he is in fact pastoring a church, it is to be a global church with a missions purpose." — Unknown
"The Christian is not obedient unless he is doing all in his power to send the Gospel to the heathen world." — A. B. Simpson [ missionary hymns by Simpson ]
"Prayer is the mighty engine that is to move the missionary work." — A.B. Simpson
"The will of God — nothing less, nothing more, nothing else." — F. E. Marsh (also attributed to Bobby Richardson)
"If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big; they are too small." — Pat Morley
"If missions languish, it is because the whole life of godliness is feeble. The command to go everywhere and preach to everybody is not obeyed until the will is lost by self-surrender in the will of God. Living, praying, giving and going will always be found together." — Arthur T. Pierson
"The history of missions is the history of answered prayer." — Samuel Zwemer
"'Go ye' is as much a part of Christ's Gospel as 'Come unto Me.' You are not even a Christian until you have honestly faced your responsibility in regard to the carrying of the Gospel to the ends of the earth." — J. Stuart Holden
"A congregation that is not deeply and earnestly involved in the worldwide proclamation of the gospel does not understand the nature of salvation." — Ted Engstrom, World Vision
"To stay here and disobey God — I can't afford to take the consequence. I would rather go and obey God than to stay here and know that I disobeyed." — Amanda Berry Smith
"I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth. It is not God who does not call. It is man who will not respond!" — Isobel Kuhn, missionary to China and Thailand
"God is a God of missions. He wills missions. He commands missions. He demands missions. He made missions possible through His Son. He made missions actual in sending the Holy Spirit." — George W. Peters
"The best remedy for a sick church is to put it on a missionary diet." — Unknown
"The Church must send or the church will end." — Mendell Taylor
March 14, 2010
Calling and Kisses From Katie
Read this inspiring blog entry today. And since I am always greatly encouraged when I read this young missionary's site, I thought I'd share what she wrote about being "called":
She writes:
'Francis Chan wrote, "How we live our days, is how we live our lives." I had to read it several times as I let it soak in. Because it is true. So often we find ourselves waiting for a specific moment, a specific call, something special. For what? How we spend our days... that will be our LIFE. Because today could be it. If Jesus came back today and said, "Let's go!" would we be ready? Would we be doing what we want to be doing when we meet Jesus? People say to me often, "You are so lucky that you found your calling, that you know your purpose in life." This statement boggles my mind. I AM so blessed to live the life that I do. But it isn't rocket science. God did NOT part the sky and shout out to me, "Katie! Serve my people." I read it in His word. You can too. We can all see as plain as day that Jesus says the number one commandment is to love the Lord and love your neighbor. I happened to move to Uganda and love those neighbors, but that is not the point. As believers, we should already KNOW our calling; it is to love the Lord and love our neighbors by caring for them in whatever broken state they are in. When He said that "the poor will always be among us" I don't think he meant that as an excuse not to worry about it but as a reminder that there is ALWAYS a neighbor, no matter where we are, in a worse condition than we are. I can only believe that God created us to make this world a little better. That he designed us in love to show that love to others. I just don't know what everyone is waiting for.'
Check out her blog here or at the link above. It is very inspiring. :)
What encourages me when I read her story is that she was only 19 years old when she left. By herself. Little to no specific training. No college degree. No seminary. No mission organization. No specific plan.
I wonder how much support she had. I wonder how many people agreed with her. I wonder how many people tried to talk her out of it. I wonder how many people told her she was crazy. I wonder.
'Francis Chan wrote, "How we live our days, is how we live our lives." I had to read it several times as I let it soak in. Because it is true. So often we find ourselves waiting for a specific moment, a specific call, something special. For what? How we spend our days... that will be our LIFE. Because today could be it. If Jesus came back today and said, "Let's go!" would we be ready? Would we be doing what we want to be doing when we meet Jesus? People say to me often, "You are so lucky that you found your calling, that you know your purpose in life." This statement boggles my mind. I AM so blessed to live the life that I do. But it isn't rocket science. God did NOT part the sky and shout out to me, "Katie! Serve my people." I read it in His word. You can too. We can all see as plain as day that Jesus says the number one commandment is to love the Lord and love your neighbor. I happened to move to Uganda and love those neighbors, but that is not the point. As believers, we should already KNOW our calling; it is to love the Lord and love our neighbors by caring for them in whatever broken state they are in. When He said that "the poor will always be among us" I don't think he meant that as an excuse not to worry about it but as a reminder that there is ALWAYS a neighbor, no matter where we are, in a worse condition than we are. I can only believe that God created us to make this world a little better. That he designed us in love to show that love to others. I just don't know what everyone is waiting for.'
Check out her blog here or at the link above. It is very inspiring. :)
What encourages me when I read her story is that she was only 19 years old when she left. By herself. Little to no specific training. No college degree. No seminary. No mission organization. No specific plan.
I wonder how much support she had. I wonder how many people agreed with her. I wonder how many people tried to talk her out of it. I wonder how many people told her she was crazy. I wonder.
March 5, 2010
Earthquakes continued, The Toba, and Carceles
Just read a very distant internet aquaintances's blog (we wrote to them once or twice years ago) that the 8.8 earthquake in Chile was felt in Patagonia. Specifically in Bariloche, one of the places we have been considering for our home base. We actually corresponded with this ex-patriot, American couple for a little bit a few years ago. Even then we had been considering moving back to Argentina, specifically to this area, and I found them on the Internet. Gotta love the Internet. They were very helpful in giving an update on the present economy, cost of living, how to make the big move, etc.. It's funny, I guess this idea has been in the works for years. What's funnier still is that recently I prayed, "Oh, Lord, if this is what you are saying, please confirm it every day!". One day, after almost a year, I clicked on their blog to read this! It was one of those "whoa" moments. I've been having a lot of them lately.
Anyway, yesterday I was doing some research online about Argentina (I should know all this by now... but, whatever, I like to read). BBC online has some country profiles. On the Argentina page was a link to an article on the Toba, the forgotten people of the Impenetrable Forest near the Paraguayan border (see little red dots on this map). Years ago we were watching a show, via DirecTV, on the Toba. The poverty they live in is extreme. Tony just stared at the TV saying, "We need to go help them. How I would love to just go and help them. Everyone's forgotten about them, no one helps them." All I could think was, "Well, I'm not going back there, so I don't know how that's gonna happen". Deep down I knew I was in the wrong; I was being selfish, or fearful, or just plain stubborn and unwilling. But I couldn't change how I felt, I really NEVER wanted to go back to Argentina, definately not to this hot, steamy, disease and poverty-ridden place with my children. So I did the smart thing and just remained quiet.
Such a great helpmate, aren't I?
A couple of years later a new show came out, "Carceles" (translated "Prisons"). Great. This one was hard core. The reporter goes into the prisons of Argentina to talk to the prisoners about their fears, their worries, their guilt, and their repentance (ha, if any). Again, Tony just stared at the screen saying, "I wish I could go there and talk to them. Amazing what sin will do to you, huh? How I would love to just talk to them about Jesus..." or something to that effect. This time I thought, "Yeah, but, that's CRAZY. You don't know if you'd come out alive! That interview guy is really risking his life going in there. They could totally kill him!". I mean, it's not like American prisons. No guards, no dividing wall with a telephone, no cameras, nothin'. Now that's dangerous. But this time I just looked at him and thought, "What is my problem? Look at him. What if this is his calling? What if he actually is called to this kind of dangerous stuff? Oh, Lord, if so, you are going so have to perform one. big. miracle. You're going to have to change my heart. I don't want to stand in the way if this is from you."
I don't know when it happenned, but it did. I honestly shake my head everyday because I can't wait to get there. I'm probably the one who is most shocked. I'm sure I am, because I know myself. Do I really want to go back to Argentina? How can I actually want this? This is WEIRD. What is going ON??? But I really do want to go. It is weird, even for me. But as Tony likes to say, "Time to apply all we've been learning!". Haha. I'll say.
Maybe I'll never go to the Toba, but I do know that if we lived in Argentina, Tony could go. Maybe we could all go, but if not, Tony could easily go. Or round up a group of people to go. Take some food, some clothes, the gospel of LIFE and HOPE. I'm sure he'd never be the same if he did. I'm sure neither would I.
Such a great helpmate, aren't I?
I don't know when it happenned, but it did. I honestly shake my head everyday because I can't wait to get there. I'm probably the one who is most shocked. I'm sure I am, because I know myself. Do I really want to go back to Argentina? How can I actually want this? This is WEIRD. What is going ON??? But I really do want to go. It is weird, even for me. But as Tony likes to say, "Time to apply all we've been learning!". Haha. I'll say.
Maybe I'll never go to the Toba, but I do know that if we lived in Argentina, Tony could go. Maybe we could all go, but if not, Tony could easily go. Or round up a group of people to go. Take some food, some clothes, the gospel of LIFE and HOPE. I'm sure he'd never be the same if he did. I'm sure neither would I.
Toba
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