The owner of an orphanage caring for 35 children depends on the Lord daily to provide the food that will feed all of them. They live day to day trusting that Lord will provide to them and they rejoice when a neighbour or a visitor drops by to visit with a bag of rice, or potatoes or flour to feed them for the next week because they know that the Lord is providing for them. They find it a privilege to serve God in opening up this orphanage because they are able to see how God meets their every need. Their faithfulness is incomparable from our faith back home. They are able to see the fruits of their faithfulness.
A family that has just enough to support themselves, they live simply – enough food, a house that has the bare necessity in furniture and a yard that has some fruit trees. They find so much joy in opening up their house to a group of strangers from half way across the world. They give us full access to their house, and their 18 month old child. They do this because to them, it is a privilege to serve God, by serving this group of people, my team and another team. They give us their beds so that we can be comfortable. They go out of their way to make us comfortable and accomodated – cooking and cleaning for 12 of us. They rejoice that 12 brothers and sisters are with them.
Why is it we don’t find these examples in our affluent North American culture? How often do we jump at the chance to open our homes to host bible studies, let alone hosting a group of missionaries into our homes for a month? Why don’t we do it? Is it because we feel it would be a sacrifice of our space? time? or resources? Why do we not pour everything we own into something that is worth more to God than to us, instead of planning and calculating our savings for our retirement funds?
I sometimes think that we have a misconstrued understanding that when missionaries serve on the field, people back home think they are making a worthy sacrifice. Is it a sacrifice or a privilege? Prior to coming on the race, I too, have thought that I was sacrificing one year of my life for something I believe in. Maybe if our focus and attitude shifts from sacrifice to privilege, in any way that we are serving God, we would be quicker to open our homes not just for bible studies but for those who need shelter. We might spend more time Kingdom planning rather than investment planning? The return on investment, though far different, is a much more richer life experience than one would fine in $$$.
When I come home, I hope that I will serve with the attitude that it is a privelege, never a sacrifice, no matter what the cost. Please keep me accountable if you are reading this.
Matthew 6:19-21″Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21
for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
