Glory…Fame…To be desired…Wealth.
Outside of my passion for sports, my love to ask questions and a platform to launch a non-profit, these things were very strong motivating factors to pursue a degree that would lead to my inevitable dream career as a sports broadcaster. Those were also the things that once I saw them, made me question if that career, that degree, was actually good for my soul. Would that career humble me and make me look more like Christ? Or would it feed my selfishness and vanity?
So I asked God, what do You want me to do with the skills you’ve given me so that I can further Your Kingdom and not my own?
On top of a hill just thirty minutes outside of Durban South Africa, there sits a radio station overlooking the Valley of 1000 Hills. It really is a glorious view. Rolling green hills almost as far as you can see, and all of them in what could only be described as a valley. It could really be a spot for a famous spot for a getaway resort.
As I stood gazing at the handiwork of our Creator on top of this hill, my eyes shifted from the landscape in front of me to the one behind me; a building not much for the eyes to feast on. It certainly wasn’t like the sports station I had worked at back home, and I couldn’t imagine the inside being any different.
But as Dani, the director of TransWorld Radio took us inside, my eyes saw the things to be desired that money cannot buy.
Money cannot buy a staff of eight believers coming together to share the gospel.
Money cannot buy God using a man’s passion for audio and video editing to create programs for men, women, children and families to know Christ, live healthy and to grow.
Money cannot buy a couple with two children spending hours on end writing scripts to bring freedom to the captives, creating surveys to find out why there is a community of widows of over 150 living in the valley below and then creating an outreach to help them.
Money cannot buy a community where the grounds keeper and gardener are welcomed in for teatime and seen just as integral to the team as the director.
Money can’t buy the opportunity for local people to come in and earn money while they learn to use a computer and other technologies – skills that otherwise they wouldn’t receive.
Money can’t buy one of those locals becoming the receptionist and part of the TWR family.
Money can’t buy prayer groups of women who pray their hearts out for people all over the world.
Money can’t buy an organization where people hardly get paid and still find their work to be something they love and desire because it brings people to the Creator, the Alpha and Omega, our Abba, Father.
See, the small staff at Transworld Radio have given their lives for something that to most people has no glory, no fame, is less than desirable and makes them just enough money to live as the local Zulu people do.
But there is glory to be seen here – it’s God’s. There is fame – for Jesus’ name. There are things to be desired – being used by our Heavenly Father for the work of salvation and love that He doesn’t need anyone to help Him do, but invites them into because He loves them. And there’s not hardly any money – but there’s an eternal inheritance laid up for these good and faithful servants in heaven.
Being a sports broadcaster is still something I dream of, and if the Lord ever led me down that path I would gladly take it. But it’s not for the same reasons. It would be because I could bring glory to my God. It wouldn’t be for my own glory, or my own fame, wealth or status. It would be for Him.
And honestly, if the Lord led, I would be just as joyful in being a part of TWR, if not more so. They really are unsung heroes for the Kingdom of God.
What gifts and skills has the Lord given you to further the Kingdom and share His love with?
What is motivating you to pursue certain dreams and goals? Is it the goodness of Christ, or something else?
How can you use your gifts to further the Kingdom?
