1 Kings 19:13-16
“And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.
From the last blog . . .
Posture.He whispered.
And I stepped out of my cave, such as Elijah did, and heard God ask me “What are you doing here, Kristin?”
And I said, “God, Abba, James and I are extremely excited to go on this trip, but we are also scared and anxious. The world is a dark place and many people have strayed far from your loving plan. They have discarded your words. Ignored Your gift of the beautiful creation, and they even outlaw you in some places.
I am afraid that we will feel alone. It is already starting to feel lonely as our apartment is being torn down and packed up. It is starting to feel lonely that we can no longer make plans with our friends. We will be leaving Fargo soon. Then we will be leaving our families. Then finally leaving all the comforts this country.”
Elijah had his answer and I have mine. James and I have some exciting, yet unknown and scary stuff going on. Elijah probably still has us beat, I mean, his life had just been threatened by Jezebel.
We face the task of packing everything up. Exchanging the known for the unknown. Continuing to fundraise and pray that it all comes through. And trusting God more than we ever have before.
I pile my doubts before God every day and every day I feel that He continues to say to us what He said to Elijah.
“Go”
There is a wilderness to go through, but there are people we must reach. God told Elijah to anoint and raise up people into leadership. God told Elijah to find himself a disciple. God is telling us to go and visit His children in other countries and to encourage them, refresh them, and raise them up higher as leaders in their communities. He told us to go and make disciples.
When I am asked what work we are most excited to do, I always seem to answer for James more than myself. God is calling James to take a break from his career as a Mechanical Engineer and a job that He loves, but now James is looking forward to lifting up leaders by helping them with his knowledge and his passion for hard work. He is capable of making disciples as he examples God’s love for fixing the broken, strengthening the weak, and rebuilding the destroyed.
So I asked James to answer for me, since I always seem to answer for him. God is calling me to step away from my friends and my job with marketing and fundraising to step into a role that will allow me to raise more than just money. I am looking forward to lifting up those who are leaders in their community. When I step into a ministry not only will I be looking to volunteer and help those that the ministry is helping, but I will also be looking for those who are there 24/7, the ones running the ministry, and my passion will go towards uplifting them. I am capable of making disciples as I show my spiritual posture. My love for God, my passion for relationships, and the joy I see in life.
This is what we are here for. This is the lesson I have been learning every day know since the first day I stepped foot into training camp. Everyday I have my doubts. Everyday I am being challenged, “What are you doing here?”. And everyday in some way, even though it is not always “felt” or “heard”, I am shown that God is looking forward to us going.
“Go”. He whispered.
Our financial deadline is just a few days away and we are so close! We need around $500 given online TODAY (Aug 19th) in order for it to be processed by the 21st. If 10 people sponsor us for one day (a gift of $48.73) we will reach this deadline! But every gift, no matter what size, makes a huge difference. Thank you for helping God to send us.
“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’. . . because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved . . . For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?“
Romans 10:8-15a (emphasis added)
