When the day comes that I am home and discontentment and restlessness knock at my door…
When I miss the rich culture of the countries around the world, miss worshiping in churches with no walls, the beating of the drums and the dancing of the beautiful Swazi women, the spontaneous heart cries, the authenticity of the kids, playing charades with adults and exchanging broken phrases, the adventure of exploring somewhere new, making family with people you just met.
When I feel like I will never experience God the same way back home as I have this year, if the American church seems too materialistic, too rigid, too planned, too shallow, too naive or apathetic towards the problems around the world, if they seem like they just don’t “get it”, if there doesn’t seem to be room to breathe, then REMEMBER.
Remember that overseas missions are not worth sacrificing everything. Only God is, and He is capable of using you exactly where you are. Don’t you dare buy into the lie that when you moved back home, you somehow left God behind or that He isn’t capable of showing His love through you in the states.
Remember the lessons of this year. Remember the glimpes of God’s heart you have seen. Don’t let cynicism creep in like it has a way of doing. Don’t allow Satan to have that foothold. The American church has it’s strengths and weaknesses like every other church around the world. They need grace, you need grace, every person around the world needs grace. Share what you have had the privilege of seeing, the ways God is awakening the world, the miracles, the hearts on fire, the absolute beauty. Pray about what you see and share whatever truth might be revealed along the way, and praise God for the beauty of the ways he is working in the states as well. Don’t idolize overseas missions!
I write this in Nicaragua, the last month of this eleven month journey, just a couple weeks short of seeing the faces of loved ones. This morning was spent reflecting on God’s glory, reading about spiritual warfare, worshiping with my team and the other missionaries here, and being overwhelmed with the thought of how little I truly know about the Lord and His character, and realizing how amazing it is that this will never get dull. Living a life of surrender and of serving the Lord will never cease to bring new realizations about Him.
In a couple of hours, I will go with my team and go love on Nicaraguan children. We will travel to and from ministry in the back of a pickup truck, the wind hitting our faces, the blur of faces as we bounce down the roads. We will arrive at ministry, assist in distributing food, we will play with them, we will try to speak Spanish with them, help teach them English. The sun will shine bright, we will have our t-shirts on, our baseball caps, our water bottles, and our bibles with us. We will sit in on their children’s church and probably have little kiddos on our laps, our shoulders, and in our hearts by the end of the day. They will probably leave us with a lot more dirt on our faces and knots in our hair than we started with, and we will pray as we play with them that they know they are loved and will grow up in confidence of the Lord and what He has for them. But ultimately, they are “just kids”. While of course, they are absolutely precious to the Lord, and we want to do everything in our power to show them love and respect, they are children. Some of their houses might have tin sheets as walls, but just like with children everywhere, their home lives vary. They need love, but so do the kids in the States. So do the adults… in the states. So do your friends, your family, your brothers and sisters in Christ. So do the strangers you pass on the street.
What’s truly important is not where you are, what you do after the race, what job, what title, what ministry, what country, it’s your heart. Are you living your life to bring glory to the Only One who deserves it? Is your heart on fire, consumed with pleasing the Lord, desperate to do everything in your power to follow the Lord’s leading as He presents you with opportunities to love the people in front of you? Are you wanting nothing more to let go of your life, your expectations, your comfort, your idols, your people pleasing tendencies? Do you honestly care about what God thinks, or people? Live your life. Love the people in front of you, truly love them. Don’t just involve yourself in activities that sound good. You can go through your whole life involved in “good things” but never truly loving… Let go! People are people EVERYWHERE. Sit at a coffee shop and open your eyes! Every single person that passes needs love, needs the truth. Right now, you speak the same language as the people in your life. You have been trusted with certain giftings and abilities from God to use to build the church. Don’t sit idly by!
Think of the people you currently know and could meet up with, within a half hour of your casa. Who comes to mind? Go pray, then go love them. Remember how blessed you are with the people God has placed in your life. You have been given THE BEST family and friends, and church community. Don’t forget that or take them for granted.
You do not need the “excitement” of overseas missions. Anything will become mundane if you do not keep your focus on Who it is suppose to be on. You do not need the envy of others at the adventure and the life you lead. You do not need the approval from other racers from “clearly following where God leads you” by ending up overseas long term. You do not need to be submerged in a new culture every month to have to rely on God and go to Him for comfort. You do not need to hold a child of another culture, that speaks another language to love on the orphans. There are plenty of orphans, both literal and spiritual orphans right where you are.
Don’t involve yourself in a ministry after your nine to five job, live your life! Go live life alongside people, support them, let them support you, cry together, laugh together, learn together, give each other grace, invite others into the chaos, share stories of the past, pray together, make mistakes, and get up and move on again. Seek God in everything and everyone. He is in every country, every brother and sister in Christ, and with You, always. No matter where your feet may tread and where you lay your head at night. He’s always there.
