Hi Family! Sarah and I are alive and well in Lira, Uganda. The wifi access in nearly non-existent, however we wanted to share with you a beautiful letter of encouragement we received from our sisters from The Bahamas. It puts perfectly into words many of the things we’ve experienced the past 11 months. Be encouraged!
To my beloved sisters,
We are so amazed when we think of your journey together as we recall when God first called us. It was an exciting yet terrifying time. A call to death as much as a call to life. By His grace, He separated us unto himself first and, as the Apostle Paul said, we were made alive to God. Since that day, we have been delighted by the revelation of God in the world. All the creation revealing Him. I hope as you went out into the world and continue the fulfill the commandment to go, that you always remember where you came from. Not just Texas but Eden, not where you were born but where you were created. This beautiful paradise where you first opened your eyes and saw Him. As a new creation, when your eyes first opened, and, like your mother Eve, you see God, you are also awakened to His glory in all the world. The heavens declaring it, night after night pouring forth speech, day after day revealing knowledge. God has taught us of the importance in travel of both witnessing in the seeing and witnessing in the telling. Witnessing in the seeing is beholding beauty, seeing what He speaks in all creation and the way it inspires awe. Taking the time to look out into the most beautiful landscapes and seeing the way He is revealing himself in this world in all He has created. How His story is being told in many different ways and appreciating the sheer breadth of His work and incredible beauty, power and majesty of the King and His kingdom. Your longings for home in Texas are natural but let this time also remind you of your longings for your home in heaven. Moments when you encounter someone who you feel so deeply connected to and don’t want to depart or you see God’s hand at work in a nation that you don’t want to leave, those moments of separation that remind us of the day when we will never be apart from one another or apart from Him. The days when you feel overwhelmed by the need or in awe of the abundance. The abundance of light and life, beauty and wonder in a sunset or smile. In an embrace from a person you’ve created a new bond with or the feeling of a country that you first entered into but as you leave someone has entered into your own heart and will remain with you in a special way. These cities of the world that God has uniquely designed, these people of different nations, tribes, tongues all gathered under His banner, how precious that you call them brother or sister and you are united in love. How oppressive and heinous does the systems of this world such as racism, classicism, misogyny seem in those moments? You see how they are a direct attack on the celebration and flourishing of the people whom He created to display His glory and how important is the fight to do the deep inner work of search my heart oh God and see if there is any offensive way in me, uproot anything that blinds me to these injustices and inequalities, and lead me in the way of love and the heart of the kingdom. In the seeing and growing sensitivity, by the grace of God, there is the joy and the sorrow that comes with the realization of what is happening. For us, there are moments of incredible awe for the beauty and tears over the sorrow and terrors of sin. We see the systems of oppression at work. We see the blindness. The needs. Moments of being ravished by God, enraptured by Him in sheer beauty of it all and then other moments of seeing the ravages of sin in the needs of the people. The heartbreaks over stories of what people endure and the heartaches and longings for home as you see the unbelievable beauty of a country and joy of fellowship with its people.
Somehow travel made us more aware of the Christ as king and our role and responsibility as the bride of Christ, daughters of the creator, we entered into these cities knowing that ultimately the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ. We ask our Father earnestly, what do you see in this land, what do you want us to do, how can we be ambassadors of the kingdom of God? We often think of His compassionate heart towards others, eating and drinking at their tables, seeing their needs and living among them as them, human, fully human, a human being. The Apostle Paul moving through these spaces attentive, alert and wise as He spoke with such cultural understanding, empathy and boldness. He begins Acts 17, “Then Paul stood up before the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship…” I loved that! Paul begins with “I see…” His eyes were opened. He saw, he walked around, he looked carefully. It’s so important for us to absorb, observe, prayerfully consider before we speak. To listen and to look. To listen to people, seek to understand how they think and live, what they worship. He begins with seeing them, God sees that “you are ignorant of the very thing you worship–and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.” That attentiveness, that seeing, the God who sees is one of my absolute favorite names of God and a practice we have the opportunity to develop every time we travel. To really see. Having your eyes open is a precious gift from God and being able to see as He sees. The question always is God how do you see this place, how do you see this person, what am I blind to and blinded by in this moment?
Witnessing in the telling, sharing this with those whom He has called, proclaiming Him along with all creation to the ends of the earth. And because the revelation of the first woman and all women is always in our hearts by the grace of God, we can’t help but think of you as Eve’s daughters, King’s daughters, a royal bride whose heart will be awakened to the lavishing love of God as she considers the co-reign over this kingdom of the world. Your royal inheritance in Him and the responsibility of sharing that revelation and sharing in that every day. Keep 1 Corinthians 10:31 close to your hearts, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. Enjoy Him in every taste of incredible food, every beautiful flower, the amazing blue seas, the sound of music in the air, He is expressing His heart in everything. And in the faces of those who you reach out to, consider the ministry of Jesus who remembered that story of Paradise and whose heart was to return us to His side and reconcile us to Him to reign for eternity. As you go about carrying the good news of God, don’t miss all the ways He is speaking to you in the sunsets and sunrises, the flowers and the colors, the richness of the culture, the beauty of the people. We earnestly pray that you are not just creating memories with the family of God but that you remember. Remember the world He created. Remember His heart as he formed you and breathed the breath of life and you became a living soul. Remember how He walked with humanity in the cool of the day. That memory Christ carried in His heart although the world was made through Him and knew Him not. It was with this heart He knelt in the Gethsemane garden and prayed, Father I want them to be with me where I am to see me in my glory. He wants to you to be with Him. Be with Him. Everywhere you go, every place your feet tread, everything your eyes are fixed on, see Him. Know that as a kingdom citizen, this world is your inheritance and the way He rules was in loving service. But carry yourself as the royal bride, adorned, loved, appointed and sent out but always with a heart to honor the king.
I’m sure this last leg of your journey comes with a longing to return along with an eagerness to complete all that God has sent you for. But in all of the doing there is also a becoming. In witnessing God transform the lives of others we are also transformed. Our hope is that with all the steps you have taken and leaps of faith it has also left an imprint on your heart that maps out the path that truly leads to eternal life. We know that no matter the distance between us our hearts are so knitted together so we always feel alongside you on every journey. We will send you more of what is on our hearts concerning you and in our prayers. Love you and miss you.
