Scene 1: excerpts from Exodus 3 & 4
God: “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Moses: “Who am I that I should go?”
God: “I will be with you…They will listen to your voice.”
Moses: “They will not believe me or listen to my voice…I am not eloquent.”
God: “I will be your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”
Moses: “Please send someone else.”
God: Fine! I’ll give you Aaron to help. [paraphrase] “I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and I will teach you both what to do.”
So God has this big plan, right? “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians…I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God…I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” (Ex 6:6-8) He wants to use Moses. Moses is NOT having it.
Spoiler alert: Despite the fact that they doubt (Ex 4:1) and listen to the people instead of God (Ex 32:22-25), God uses Moses and Aaron to lead His people out of enslavement in Egypt and toward the land He has promised them!
Scene 2: Fort Collins Soccer Club
This year the Lord granted me a job working alongside a teacher in her 4th grade classroom. This opportunity has blessed me in many ways, including unexpected community. According to Wikipedia, Fort Collins is 82% white. According to anyone walking on the street, it feels like 95%. Not a lot of diversity. But I get to work at a school nestled in a more diverse area of town. We have many Hispanic students in our classrooms; they are some of the students that touch my heart the most with their work ethic, kindness, and joy.
Recently, I went to the boys’ soccer game. The tension from diversity was tangible – it was like I stepped through an invisible curtain from the “white” side with families yelling at their players on the field and talking in English to the “Hispanic” side with families yelling and talking in Spanish. Except I was the white girl on the Hispanic side. And I don’t know enough Spanish to carry on a conversation — but we managed just fine with gestures, laughs, and their English.
When it comes to the World Race, I consider the language barriers I will encounter and they feel like mountains. They ARE mountains. Despite my responsibility to prepare for our locations, you can only learn so many basic phrases in a dozen languages. Thinking of trying to share the Gospel, I begin to feel like Moses. Uh, what, God? I am not equipped for that!!!
I know that the Lord expects preparation from us as His servants. Relationship comes from communication, which mostly comes from learning people’s languages. However, this trip is not designed for long-term language-learning, but short-term partnering and support (with translators). I can trust that when the time comes, God will send the right people and be my mouth and teach me what I shall speak (or pray, or mime). God called Moses despite his deficiencies. He promised to be with Moses. He will be with me and my team as we follow where He leads.
[Separately, if you’d like to know why I chose to do short-term missions and why I think the World Race is worth the time and money, that blog is forthcoming.]
Lesson 2: I have things to learn from being in 4th grade.
These are the boys that impress me and warm my heart.
They won their game 11-1.
