What it feels like to have a child serving Jesus on the other side of the world
Our daughter is currently serving through World Race Semesters in Africa. The journey for our family leading up to this moment has been wonderful but stretching in many ways. This week she asked if I would be willing to write a blog post about our perspective on her journey. Here are some of my thoughts as I reflected on what it feels like to have a child serving Jesus on the other side of the world.
1. Seeing my child serve others in Jesus name is a blessing to me.
Parents get a sense of pride when their children do good things. They are often the loudest cheerleaders at championship games and award ceremonies. But it’s not that sense of pride that I’m referring to. Sure, we’re “proud” of our daughter’s choice to go on this trip. But my knowledge of God’s sovereignty will not allow me to take any credit for her decision. Instead I am feeling blessed to know that 18 years of prayers are being answered in big and small ways in her life. Most importantly I’ve prayed since she was small that she would learn the importance of a life of service in Jesus name. Her choice to do service in the form of global missions is an answer to that prayer. And that is a big blessing to me for which I’m thankful to God.
2. Seeing how God works in another culture helps us see better who God really is and what His church really looks like.
Our view of God tends to be small. We often imagine that he thinks like us or that he is limited to working in the way we’re used to seeing him work. But God’s glory is greater than we can imagine. As my daughter has ventured into other cultures we’ve all gotten to see God working in ways that are very different than what we’re used to. His church looks far different in Zambia than it looks in America. The Gospel mission is the same, but it takes far different forms. To get to see his people in other parts of the world worship Him in different ways reminds all of us that he is much bigger than we think. Knowing that God is active in every part of the world, watching over his work to perform it is a huge encouragement. We get a little taste of what it will be like when every knee will bow and every tongue confess our Lord (Romans 14:11).
3. Lending your child to the Lord’s service is a faith growing exercise.
As parents with little children you fret over each tiny choice they make. You want what’s best for them and what brings the Lord the most glory. Especially when they are small, you attempt to control their environment in an effort to determine the outcome of their lives. Usually God graciously helps parents see that He is the one tasked with ultimate care of your child. Over time he introduces circumstances that are out of your control in part to teach us to trust Him with the outcome of our child’s life. Though we’ve had may lessons in this area through our daughters life it’s fair to say that sending her across the ocean with a team of young people we’ve just met has been one of the bigger examples of having to trust God with her well-being. We have learned God’s loving character through the years and seen that He has her best interest in sight. In fact, we’ve learned that He knows her better than we ever will. Each day we have to give our daughter, her safety and her spiritual wellness into his loving hands. We are reminded that that is the safest place she can be.
4. Getting to see God bear fruit in and through your child is a beautiful gift.
Proverbs 22:6 commands parents to train up their child in the way they should go and promises that they will not depart from the way as they become adults. We’ve always held this to mean that we are called to do our best to equip them for a life of walking in God’s will. I once heard a pastor say that parents work to pile spiritual kindling around their child’s heart and wait on God to ignite the fire. This is what Biblical parenting has always felt like to me. Naturally we spent many years trying to encourage attitudes and behaviors that would please the Lord and benefit our daughter. Ultimately, the attributes we want for her are fruits of the Spirit, not fruits of her parents. That’s why it’s a gift to see things like love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, and self control blossom in her during this trip.
5. Relationships formed on mission are eternal.
Relationships are typically based on common interests. The relationship lasts for as long as the interest is shared. Relationships formed around sports, hobbies or musical tastes can easily fade. However, relationships forged around Jesus are much less likely to fade because He never changes or fades away. On mission for the Gospel far from home, trials are encountered, tempers are tested suffering is endured and conflict arises. But if the team is centered on Jesus and the mission of reaching souls those things can actually strengthen relationships. Further, because these are fellow believers, the friendships formed are ones that will last for eternity. It is a great blessing to see our daughter growing in friendship with believers in her team and in the local community she serves.
6. Their service in other parts of the world inspires worship here at home.
As we lift up our daughter in prayer as a family and as a church we have been led to praise God for many things. We have been praising Him for his faithfulness during the raising of support. We worship Him when we see the beautiful people of her ministry country and hear of the things that are being done in Jesus name. We as parents have had the chance to give updates during worship services and call our church to praise God for his provision and grace. Through the sending of our daughter to the mission field we have seen an increase in prayer and giving toward the work of the Church in the world.
7. The reach of the mission goes far beyond the towns they are serving.
There are clearly ways that the team is being used in their country of ministry to love and serve people. I’ve also noticed that many people in our home church have been inspired by our daughters mission. Neighbors whom we’ve prayed for for years are seeing her blog updates and Instagram posts and responding. Her trip has created gospel conversations for me at work. This trip for our daughter has made our other children see that going into the world is a very practical thing we can all do. In these and many other ways she is having an impact far broader than the immediate geographic region shes physically serving.
8. This experience will be used by God for the rest of her life.
By this I do not mean only that she will have a bunch of stories that start with “One time, in Africa…”. Rather I mean that the skills she’s learning and circumstances she’s being placed in are maturing her and shaping her for the future that God has in store. Her experience of needing to build relationships quickly, learning to serve even if it’s not perfect or received well, coming to an understanding that ministry can be hard or that God’s plan is often not our plan are timeless lessons. I can see God at work powerfully in her life while she’s away.
9. Sometimes it takes an out of context experience to give perspective on daily faith life.
In the midst of our comfortable, activity-filled, regular lives it is easy for us to drift into complacency or apathy toward the things of the Lord. At minimum our Western culture is so rich that we often need to fight for dependence on the Lord. Because our daughter is in a culture that has a slower pace and far less comforts she has been able to better feel dependence on the Lord. The reality of suffering has come more into focus as has true joy. Without all of the distractions of her normal life she’s been able to see God even in the mundane parts of her day. She’s had more time to deeply study Gods word and better aligning her heart to God’s heart. I’m thankful for these opportunities she’s had to see life differently.
10. Short term missions is the fuel of Global missions.
Sometimes God burdens hearts for a nation and people go. Other times it’s when people go that God burdens hearts for a nation. Not every child who goes on a short term trip becomes a life long missionary. However, almost all permanent missionaries under the age of 50 have started their journey through short term trips. This sort of work is important because it is a means that God uses to embolden and equip both goers and senders for a life long work of global missions. I do not know what form this will take in my daughter’s life but I can already see that he’s ignited a passion for global missions in her heart.
I’m thankful each day while our daughter is away for the blessings that God is providing to my family through this adventure.
