For some reason, writing blogs the past several months has been increasingly harder. I’ve talked with a couple of squad-mates about this and I don’t seem to be the only one who things so. Whether it’s the spiritual atmosphere of Asia in general or that the lessons that God is taking each of us through have gotten harder and more complex. It could also have been impacted by the fact that we’ve been in closed countries where we have to be very aware of how we speak and what we share publicly. This makes daily ministry look different and the way we share about it.
Regardless, I love sharing my experiences and lessons through writing and it hurts my heart a little that I haven’t really made it a priority the last few months. So in the midst of me struggling for topics to share and processing going home I had a thought. What if what I share over the next 11 days (the remaining time I have left on the field-eek!) is what we are processing about going home?
About a month or so ago our leadership team provided us with some questions to help us process. Many of these questions are questions that a lot of folks at home are probably wondering as well. So, I’m going to process through some of them and share them here.
This might be a little ambitious as I’m basically commuting to writing and posting at least once a day until I get home, but seeing as I’ve really only actually answered two of these question at this point it will probably be good for me. And hopefully, you’ll find something of value in it, too. So here we go…
What were your favorite ministries?
Hands down month 8 was my favorite month of ministry on the race. (I’m not saying the country or the specific ministry because of confidentiality reasons, but you can find it if you look at previous posts.) I was not expecting to love this ministry. When I got our assignment in month 7 that we would be at a church the following month I was less than thrilled. But I very intentionally asked God to help me buy-in that month and keep a positive perspective.
And oh how I loved it.
Sundays were spent working with the children’s Sunday school class and then one of us sharing at the service. But the rest of our time was spent in church members’ houses teaching, singing, praying and sharing a meal two or more times a day. We tried to divide up responsibilities in a logical manner, but soon realized it would be better for each of us to always have something to share. As a result I was ready to share something from the Bible or that God was revealing to me at least once if not twice a day everyday that we went out. I loved it, and it pushed me to be more diligent in my personal devotion time and to reach deeper than I had before to have something to share.
More than that, the air of fellowship and worship that happened in each house gave me a unique perspective on what it must have been like to sit at the feet of Jesus. More than once I would breath in deep and take in the moments of my team and I sitting in a room with a family and their neighbors worshiping together and praying and think, this is what it was like for Jesus, for the disciples.
I loved it! And then they fed us, do you know how biblical that is too? How many times in the Bible do we find Jesus breaking bred with the people he was with?
Being a Christian in this country is not always safe, and it definitely isn’t popular. The majority of the country is Hindu, and the majority of the population where we lived is Muslim. The Christian leaders in the country are navigating very real threats from Hindu extremists everyday. But their faith is so strong and in them, again I was reminded of the early church. The church is alive and active there and GROWING thanks to the efforts of some very courages and faithful believers.
We had the kids memorize a verse for us while we were there, and I will never be able to read Joshua 1:9 again without hearing their sweet voices in my head as they repeated it to us in church the Sunday before we left.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua1:9 NKJV
