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I have been trained to be a Martha, and now I am eager to practice being a Mary.
 
                        As Jesus and his disicples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha 
               opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he said.  
               But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.  
               She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?  
               Tell her to help me!”
                        “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but 
               only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  
                           Luke 10:38-42
 
The lesson from this story is that Jesus prefers that we spend time with him than that we serve him.  Service of good, of course, but what good does it really do, unless we are filled up with his love?

We want the people with whom we come into contact to have an encounter with God, but how can they do that unless we ourselves have encountered God?! 
 
In this world, we are taught that our work gives us our identity, and through that, we are accepted. 
But God teaches the opposite:  He accepts us, which gives us our identity in Christ, and then we glorify Him through our work.

I am used to being in the work-work-work mode, and there is certainly a lot of opportunity to work around here: wash the dishes, work in the nursery, paint the children’s home, tutor a student, chat with the locals, etc.   

But our leaders are adamant that we also intentionally set aside time to rest.  They insist that we individually spend at least two hours a day with the Lord: praying, worshipping, studying the Word, etc.  We are also encouraged to observe the Sabbath (Day of Rest) as a team.

At first, I felt guilty doing this, but now I understand how critical it is for our success as a mission and for the health of our relationships with God and others.  Full-time ministry is demanding, and we cannot risk burning out in the first month!  We have ten more intense months to go!

Be careful that you, too, do not put the Great Commission before the Great Commandment. 
 
                        The Great Commission
                        “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name 
                        of the Father and of the Son and of the HolySpirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” 
                                       Matthew 28:19-20

 

                        The Great Commandment
                        Jesus replied, ” ‘Love the Lord your God 
                        with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  
                        This is the first and greatest commandment.  
                        And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”  
                                       Matthew 22:37-39
 
May the Lord be pleased with me and the offering of my life and
may He not reprimand me as he did the Church in Ephesus.
 
                  To the Church in Ephesus
                        I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. … 
                        Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
                                       Revelation 2:2-4
 
I am so blessed to have been taken out from ordinary life and to be surrounded by this incredible group of Jesus-lovers who both challenge and encourage me.  There is no doubt that a great transformation will take place this year, in our hearts and in the countries we visit. 
 
THANK YOU to my supporters for making this possible!
 
It is my intention to post blogs about what we are doing as well as the growing intimacy I am experiencing.  I want you to “participate” in this journey with me, but I don’t want this to become a simple resume of activities.  Please comment and hold me accountable to that, because it is important for me to share both.  
 
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I just read a post called “What the World Race is really about …” by a July 2008 World Racer named Jennifer Crane.  Among other insights, she says,
[God] doesn’t operate on the “gold star” mentality, checking me off when I do something right. He operates in the constant grace mentality, in which I am a saint. A title for which I do not have to work, but I live in constantly.
 
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