During my time on the Race, I've encountered a number of missionaries from The States and elsewhere, serving abroad. Now, I used to think a missionary was a certain type of person. Someone adventurous. Someone with passionate and expressive zeal. Someone strong and capable and someone with a vision.
Wrong. There is zero, zero "type" of missionary. The people I've met have blown any "stereotype" I had going way, way out of the water. God is totally transforming my idea of what it looks like to faithfully serve Him.
For instance…I met a middle-aged married couple from South Carolina who founded a school for the deaf on Ometepe Island in Nicaragua. Neither one speaks Spanish. Neither one signs Spanish Sign Language. Neither one set off to found a deaf school. Neither one had a "passion" or a "heart" or a "vision" for deaf, Nicaraguan kids. They simply came to Nicaragua with their church on a short-term mission trip. Then they came back a number of times. Then they discovered a children's home where the children were abused and neglected, and their hearts were moved, so they tried to help however they could. The government eventually stepped in and sort of pushed them aside. Later, they were led to the discovery that there was no deaf school to teach deaf children on Ometepe Island. They also learned that many deaf people in Central America are treated as though they were mentally handicapped. Their hearts were moved (that's The Holy Spirit) and so they set out trying to get a school going to teach these children.
God led them, and provided what they needed. Minimal funding. Teac
hers. A building with funding coming infrom time to time for renovations. Helpers. Patience. And faith. Lots of it. Now these two (who I would have only thought capable of teaching Sunday School as their greatest possible contribution to The Kingdom…because I can still be judgemental and negative in my thinking….God's gracefully still working on me) are running a deaf school for children who speak two different languages than they do…completely on faith. That sentence was long and chopped up….let me recap.
A totally normal husband and wife, who are not super spiritual, who only speak English, have pioneered a school for deaf children in a completely foreign country, completely on faith. And God is doing great things. He's doing it all…and it's all amazing.
That's just one example. There are so many more we've encountered. (Which I'll expound on later.) And it blows my mind. These people aren't special you guys. They never longed to be missionaries. They are discovering God's call as they go, and they are being faithful and obedient along the way…even with some questioning, reluctance and major hesitation from time to time. They make it clear that God is the one doing the work. Their only explanation for the great things happening is always and only God. He's the one leading and providing. And He works through them, allowing them to do things beyond their own abilities.
They show that all of us…all of us…are capable of serving our God, serving our Father however He asks. We just need to be faithful. That's all He asks. For us to trust and be faithful. And also…"mission work" has nothing to do with living abroad…it has everything to do with serving faithfully wherever life may find you. It has everything to do with living day-to-day, trusting that God will take care, lead and provide. So, if you're a believer I have good news and bad news*…
You're a missionary. How does it feel?
* It's not really bad news. In fact, it's great news. It might just not SOUND too appealing at first. But think about it. Let it simmer. And then relish in the FREEDOM it brings that you're only required to be faithful…not to solve all the problems and figure everything out. That there's no need for elaborate plans or for you to, "have it all together." You only have to be faithful, and trust in your God who is GOOD. Always. See? I told you it wasn't such bad news.
Photos by Angela Grit!
