“Peter had to leave the ship and risk his life on the sea, in order to learn both his own weakness and the almighty power of his Lord. If Peter had not taken the risk, he would never have learnt the meaning of faith.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
11 countries in 11 months. 11 months of ministry in foreign lands. 11 months of serving and loving people well from all nations. This is the World Race and of course so much more. But this is where the Lord has called me. And so with this surprising call I find myself feeling like I can relate a bit to how Peter must have felt standing on the edge of that ship as the winds raged contemplating trusting Jesus enough to meet Him out on the water, to take the step off the ship. Standing there as his Lord called to him. Granted, I’m probably not feeling exactly as he felt because he feared possible death in that moment. But, he was most definitely struggling with fear and that I can relate to. I would be lying if I said fear and anxiety has not crept into my brain from time to time since I’ve decided to do this. This decision to heed the call is exciting and joy filling while at times being equally alarming knowing that my comfort zone is about to be blown to pieces. But I couldn’t imagine not responding to Jesus and this new path He has placed before me.
God has raised me up to this point. I see that now. He stirred up a passion for missions that has laid dormant for a long time and has placed it in a quite unexpected time in my life. Over the many years my faith has grown and matured as I have. Often it was very painful growth. By degrees my faith has expanded and evolved as my God pushed and shaped and nurtured it while I pressed into Him and learned more about who He is. He has shown me again and again His steadfast love and faithfulness. And the times I did not seek and was not faithful are so abundantly clear in the timeline of my life. They were times of fruitlessness, stagnation and soul draining complacency. From those times I have learned the need to remain desperate for Him always. As the above quote says, I’m about to learn a lot about my own weaknesses, but thankfully also a lot about the power of Jesus.
So I lean in. I take this next step in my faith. I obey. I cling to Jesus knowing that it is only through utter dependency on God that this next step will flourish and succeed as He desires it to.
So I invite you to support me on this crazy journey whether it be through prayer or money. Both are equally welcome! I will be updating this blog as I prepare to leave in September and during my travels abroad.
Be well friends!
