The title of this blog is taken partially from Rom. 15:20 and partially from the old hymn, "The Solid Rock." God used this verse to confirm my call into missionary service, and the only true foundation to build upon is the Solid Rock Himself, Jesus Christ!
During our time in Lima, the Father has really worked out some details on things that only He could have done. I am so thankful that His sovereign hand has been at work here!
Prayer Necessities for the Skimmers:
1. Please be in prayer for Lori, as she is no longer a part of the team. Pray that the Lord would have His way in her life in every way and that He would use her to glorify Himself.
2. Continue to pray for team unity as we draw close to one another in this time immediately following the loss of a team member. Our remaining team is pictured at the bottom of this post, with me and Amy in the first photo and Misty and Leah in the second.
3. Pray for favor in the Bolivian consulate in Puno, Peru. We travel there this weekend to officially begin the visa process. Pray that the Lord would pave the way and that we would be allowed to enter the country quickly and efficiently.
Inquring Minds Wanna Know (Bonus for the Readers):
As Americans, we love numbers. Sports scores, school grades, statistics. We use numbers all the time to measure results. By the way, did you know that 82% of Americans use statistics on a daily basis? Nah, I just made that up, but I think you get my point. :)
Baptists love numbers, too. We take the attendance in Sunday School each week, we count the number of contacts we make to church prospects, we keep a record of baptisms. All of that is meant to determine how successful we are in doing the LORD's work.
Even missionaries have their numerical goals. When I was in the application process, I had to keep a record of the number of times I had shared the Gospel in the last six months. During my orientation, we were required to share our faith at least three times a week. And now I also have different goals to meet, but the purpose is the same: You need to reach this number.
Don't get me wrong: I, too, like to measure life by numbers. I was a pharmacist, for goodness' sake! Give me a calculator and a patient's lab results, and I can correct an abnormal electrolyte value in no time. Numbers make sense to me.
But God doesn't measure success by numbers. First of all, our feeble human efforts - whether it's in how many times we've shared the Gospel or how many baptisms our church has had - have NOTHING to do with how well His work is done. God is God, and His will is accomplished perfectly with or without us. He doesn't need our help to do anything.
Secondly, my success as a believer in Christ does not depend on how much money I give or how many times I go to the church building each week or how well I sing the songs. It only depends on my obedience to the LORD. If we truly want to measure success, we should look at that number: How many times today was I obedient to what God told me? I wonder how many of us would want to know that particular statistic.
And, finally, the LORD looks predominantly at the number one. When the shepherd had 99 safe sheep, he still went to search for the one that was lost (Luke 15:3-7). When the woman had nine coins, she still cleaned the house to find the lost one (Luke 15:8-10). And the father, though he had a faithful son at home, still yearned for the prodigal one and rejoiced when he returned home (Luke 15:11-32). God cares more about developing the relationship to win that lost son than He does about our mathematical attempts to win thousands.
This blog is really a conglomeration of my thoughts in response to the words of my boss this week. In preparing us for our first visit to a jungle community, he asked us our goal. Of course, we responded like good little missionaries and said, "To share stories from the Bible." That sounds pretty great, right? What a noble goal!
So we were really surprised when he said, "No. Your goal is to obey the LORD in whatever He says. If that's sharing stories, you do that. If it's cutting grass with a machete, you do that. If it's playing football [that's soccer to those of you in the States! :)], you do that. You are there to serve the LORD by serving these people."
Wow. That knocked my missionary halo down a notch or two. But it was so freeing! I'd never realized the amount of pressure those numbers put on us. If I don't share a Gospel tract with everyone with whom I come in contact, am I a terrible Christian? Not if I'm not being disobedient. Sometimes the LORD tells us to share, sometimes He tells us to serve, and sometimes He tells us to do neither. But "there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven" (Eccl. 3:1).
As you go, obey. Seek to build relationships with others, both believers and non-believers. And see how God uses your obedience to build His kingdom and to make you into a successful disciple!
I am so thankful for all the lessons the LORD taught me through our time of training. Read on to find out more!
Prayer Necessities for the Skimmers:
1. Pray for unity for our team, as our enemy is trying his dead-level best to tear us apart. Pray for wisdom for Leah and me as team leaders as we think through some difficult decisions regarding the team.
2. Pray for favor with the Bolivian government, as we travel from Lima to an embassy on the Peru-Bolivia border to begin the resident visa process.
3. Pray that God will begin to prepare the hearts of Latin and indigenous women with whom we can develop relationships. Pray that He will call some of those women into missionary service with us in Bolivia.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know (Bonus for the Readers):
God has opened my eyes just a little to the depths of the wickedness in my heart and, while it is hard to look at, to be forgiven and cleansed of that unrighteousness is so liberating. I feel like a 20-pound burden has been lifted!
One of the girls on my team used the analogy of a well to describe the sin in our hearts. She talked about how she wants God to dredge up some of that black muck at the bottom of the well and pull it out so that the water in the well will be a little more pure. During this week, He dredged up some of the muck that has been in my heart for 25 years, and I now feel like the water is a little more clear.
For your benefit, I won't share all of my sins with you. (Yeah, you'd be here for the rest of the year reading that!) But I will share one very powerful thing the LORD did in my life this week.
During a conversation with my boss Jeremy, he told me that he and his wife had been praying for me in regards to my attitude and how I cling to my rights. He told me that, not as a judgment, but with humble sincerity in an attempt to help me. But my initial response was, "What?! I have come down here and done everything you've asked of me, but you think I'm demanding my rights?!"
But that night, the LORD woke me up thinking about that, and He opened my eyes to how I was doing exactly that. I was clinging to my rights as an American, and I had convinced myself that I was really entitled to that life I had once had. I was entitled to the car I drove, the TV I had, the food I ate. I deserved all of that. (Here are pictures of what we ate before training and getting ready to eat after training started.) And, though I had not really realized it before that night, I had kept in the back of my mind the idea of completing three years as a missionary and then returning to some sort of position as a pharmacist in the States, one where I could live a life of comfort once again. After all, I was entitled to that life I'd had before, and surely the LORD would be adequately pleased with those three years of sacrifice.
But God reminded me of something Jeremy had said. He had explained how the New Testament in the original language frequently uses the word "doulos" to describe followers of Christ. Many English versions of Scripture translate this word as "servant," but the English word that is actually an accurate translation is "slave." The difference between a servant and a slave is that the servant can quit his job, but the slave has no choice but to obey. When I was in the process of applying to be a missionary and struggling with the seeming nonsense of giving up my career as a pharmacist, God confirmed His calling by leading me to the passage where the prophet Elijah anointed Elisha as his successor. Elisha asks to go back to say goodbye to his family, and what happens next is interesting:
"So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant." (1 Kin. 19:21)
God reminded me that there was no turning back for Elisha. When the LORD called him, he killed his oxen and burned his plow; there was no returning to his old way of life.
It is the same with me. I am a "doulos" of Christ, and obedience is not an option. My Master is gentle and good, but He's still my Master. Whether I'm a missionary for three years or thirty is solely dependent on His direction. I am entitled to nothing but to follow Him. And to do so gives me everything!
Leah and I after speaking at Eternal Life Christian Mission in Iquitos, Peru
We made it through training - again! :) - and are so much more unified than before. We have truly learned what it means to be the Body of Christ with one another, and God taught each of us so much through this additional time of training. I hope that we are ready to "go and make disciples" of the Quechua women, "teaching them to obey everything" He has taught us (Matt. 28:19-20).
Prayer Necessities for the Skimmers:
1. Pray for favor with the Bolivian government as we are in the process of applying for our resident visas.
2. Pray for wisdom for Misty as she faces a major life decision and for the rest of the team as we offer her counsel during this time.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know (Bonus for the Readers):
On May 16, the women on my team and I returned to the jungle for more training and, let me tell you, it was a shock. After spending a month in the Andes Mountains, stepping off the plane in Iquitos, Peru, to 91°F temperatures was kind of a shock to the system. :)
After spending two days in Iquitos, we hiked into our camp with our fully-loaded backpacks... over a distance of 16 km (about 10 miles). Since I had hiked twelve miles in a day on the Appalachian Trail in the past, I figured it wouldn't be that bad. But I didn't count on the jungle rain. Iquitos is on the Amazon River (pictured to the right), and there's a reason they call this area the Amazon rain forest. The water comes down in sheets, and a wet backpack is miserable in so many ways. Water is HEAVY! But, from the very beginning of the day, the LORD brought this verse to mind:
"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thess. 5:18)
I was struck by the fact that this rain, this hike, and even this being in the jungle again, were all "God's will for [me] in Christ Jesus." Though I couldn't fathom why He'd brought me back here, I knew it was His will.
The other part of our hike that was... um, shall we say, unexpected :)... was that we were given two sheep to herd out to the camp to the camp with us. Yeah, I said sheep. Those stupid animals from which we get wool. And how much did I know about shepherding? You got that right: Not a thing!
The sheep (pictured below) were frustrating at best, as we spent the entire beginning of the hike trying to get them to follow us. But they didn't know us, didn't trust us, and wouldn't obey us in anything. And, wow, the spiritual lessons I learned from those animals. They really are as dumb as I've always heard. They're rebellious and have a mind of their own, and it seems as if they're constantly trying to do exactly the opposite of what we want. Even though we're trying to take them to a place with more food and more shade, they are continually fighting us.
Sound familiar? Yeah, to me, too. I know I'm exactly the same. Although my Good Shepherd always leads me toward the best, I spend so much time and energy fighting Him.
Why do I do that? For the same reason our sheep fought us: Because I don't trust my Shepherd completely. But as they came to know us and our voices, their fear diminished, and they began to obey. In the same way, as I come to know Him more and see the true and continual goodness of His character, I learn to trust Him and to obey. There's a reason Scripture so frequently calls us sheep. We are. But His sheep know His voice and follow Him. Lead on, Lord. This sheep wants to follow.
Evidently, my boss also wants me to remember this lesson. My hard-earned Xtreme Team jersey bears the nickname he gave me: "I'm a Sheep" (our whole team is pictured here, along with all of our jerseys). Thanks, Jeremy. I'll never forget it! :)
make you into a successful disciple
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