Wow. You guys ask some awesome questions. I really appreciate the time and thought put into every question, so in an effort to honor y’all well, I’m going to split them up! Every week I’ll be answering 2-3 questions. This week’s questions come from Chris Stumpf, Mark Armstrong, Meg Bingham 🙂
1. “How did you recognize God’s call to serve?”
Fun fact: I didn’t! My relationship with the Lord prior to joining the race was impersonal. For months after committing to the world race, I struggled to understand why I felt such a strong conviction to go into Missions. I held onto “getting out of Illinois” and “having a strong faith foundation” as my reasons for going, rather than taking time to really pray over this decision.
Spending time with the Lord is part of my daily routine now, and through this time I’ve discovered what I thought was my own conviction was really the Lord’s calling. As we draw closer to the Lord, the desires of our hearts begin to align with his desires, and I’m so grateful the Lord lead me to missions, even if I didn’t recognize his guidance at first.
2. “How is your squad adjusting to the food, routines, and challenges of ministry life?”
I won’t lie, the first week was pretty rough on everybody’s digestive system. Between travel, new foods, and new routines we were all having issues. Adjusting has been a process for sure, but we’re all settling in now.
One of the biggest challenges in adapting to our new environment has truly been the ants and mosquitos. We ran through our supply of bug spray quickly, and now we’re just dealing with the bites as they come. It’s annoying, but a small price to pay compared to the beauty of working for God’s kingdom.
3.“What has surprised you most about your work as a missionary?”
The crazy abundance provided to us by the Lord!!! Seriously, he is SO GOOD to us! Life as a missionary has looked like finding out something new about the Lord every, single, day. I used to get bored of reading the Bible. I always thought “Man, it’s just the same thing over, and over, and over again”. I will never look at the word of God that way again. Our Father is eternal. His glory is ENDLESS! He is abounding with love for us, and every day I’m psyched to rediscover that I simply want more of it!
Thank you guys so much for all of your questions and support. I’m looking forward to answering more next week. Feel free to keep asking questions too! I love keeping you guys in the loop 🙂
