Making People a Priority

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:

Our enemy tried his dead-level best (through some attacks on team unity and a mechanical problem with our truck) to keep our journeygirls from making the latest trip to three Quechua communities (Ayuma, Falsuri, and one still to be determined), but they made it safely to Ayuma on Sunday and will be there for three weeks. It was very clear to us all that the timing of this trip was of the Lord, and we are thankful that He got the girls where they need to be safely. It will be exciting to see what He will accomplish through them on this trip!

Prayer Necessities for the Skimmers:
1. Please pray for Misty and Amy (pictured here with me) as they spend the next three weeks investigating these Quechua communities. They will be sharing stories with the women and are looking to see where the interest is high and where the people are willing to memorize the stories and to share them with others. Their research on this and a future trip will determine where they will focus the remainder of their time on the field. Pray that the Lord would make it abundantly clear where they are to work.

2. Pray that the believers in these communities would catch the vision of "Quechua reaching Quechua." This is the goal the Lord has shown us, so please pray that He would reveal it to them as well and that they would grab on to the idea and run with it, planting churches among the unreached of their own culture.

3. Pray for wisdom for Leah and me (pictured here), that we would remain purposeful in choosing our activities. There are lots of demands on our time and, at times, it is overwhelming. Pray that we would know where to focus our efforts in relationship-building and that we would be able to effectively prioritize a variety of tasks.

Inquiring Minds Wanna Know (Bonus for the Readers):

"Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." (Eph. 5:15-16)

As many of you might know, my parents have served the Lord in Europe for the last few years. What you might not know is that God has now called them to return to the United States, where they're continuing to serve Him in a slightly different capacity. That's sort of tangential to the point of this blog, but your prayers for their new ministry would be greatly appreciated.

Something my mom (pictured to the right with my dad) did a few months ago really made an impact on me, and I wanted to share it with you, in the hopes that it will ring true with you as well. The Christmas season in Europe is hectic just as it is in the US, especially if you're an American who is getting together with other Americans to celebrate the holiday.

Such was the case with my mom, who was responsible for bringing several dishes to the office Christmas party. She was bustling around the house getting ready to start cooking when there was a knock on the door. When she went to open it, she saw her 8-year-old friend Sophie standing there, accompanied by her 12-year-old brother and his friend.

I think I should explain some things about my mom before I continue. She's kind of a social butterfly, though she would probably disagree with that assessment. I don't mean that in the sense that you'll see her on the high-society page of your local newspaper. No, she's just a very genuine and sweet person who really cares about other people and, for that reason, everyone loves to be around her. She radiates the Lord's love.

But she'd had kind of a difficult time making friends in her new city, and that was very hard on her. She'd been praying for friends, and she was a little surprised that God had answered that by providing Sophie, a little neighbor girl with some physical disabilities. But Mom accepted what the Lord gave and spent time with Sophie.

On this particular day, Mom knew that she was on a tight schedule, so she seriously considered asking the kids to come back at a better time. After all, there was lots to get done and not much time in which to do it. Asking them to come back later was a perfectly reasonable option.

But that's not what she did. Instead, she invited all three kids in to help her. They spent the next few hours preparing the food that she needed to take to the party and, in the process, she got into a spiritual conversation with Sophie's older brother where she was able to plant some seeds for eternity. When the children left, Mom went to the party feeling cheerful... AND with all the food she was supposed to bring.

But the story doesn't end there. Through the kids, Mom was able to build a relationship with their mother, Lisa. One day not long before my parents left for the US, Lisa came to their house and told Mom she liked to be there because it was peaceful. When my mom inquired as to whether Lisa's house was hectic, she responded that that was not what she meant. She recognized that my mom lived a life of peace and wanted to know why. From there, Mom was able to share the Truth of the Prince of Peace with her. Wow!

But what most impacted me about this was my mom's willingness to adjust her schedule to accommodate those three kids. Without that initial act of love to those children, I'm not sure she would have had the later opportunity with Lisa.

So I started thinking about whether I would have done the same and, I'm sad to say, I don't think I would have. See, I come from the same task-oriented culture you do, and it's hard to leave that mentality behind.

There are two different types of cultures in the world: Task-oriented and relationship-oriented. In a relationship-oriented society, the relationships between people are the most valuable thing. As a result, time is less important than just fostering the relationship. Latin American cultures, in general, are very relationship-oriented.

I, on the other hand, am HIGHLY task-oriented, as are most Americans. It's hard for me to foster relationships because, quite honestly, it just takes too much time. I'm a list-maker, and spending time with people means I don't get very many things on my list accomplished for the day.

But can you see how task-orientation is contrary to the Gospel? Jesus had but ONE task: To glorify His Father. That was His one job each and every day and, to accomplish it, He spent all of His time and energy in making His Father known to people.

I remember one particular instance where Jesus was in the middle of teaching, and a synagogue ruler asked Him to come and raise his dead daughter to life. Now it was no problem for Jesus to resurrect people at any time (just see the resurrection of Lazarus in John 11 for proof), so He could have waited until He was finished with His teaching. But He immediately went with the man. However, while He was going, a woman with a bleeding disorder secretly touched Him so that she could be healed from her infirmity. When that happened, He stopped and asked who had touched Him. When the woman admitted it, He told her that her faith had healed her. Then, He continued on His way to the ruler's house, where He raised the little girl to life. (Go read the accounts in Matthew 9:18-26 and Luke 8:40-56 to get all the details.)

My point here is that Jesus cared more about his relationship with the synagogue ruler than he did about his task of teaching the crowd. But He also cared more about His relationship with the newly-healed woman than He did about the task of raising the synagogue ruler's daughter to life.

So I want to learn to be more like that. I, too, have but one task: To bring God glory. That is accomplished by establishing and maintaining relationships with people, whether that's with those on my team or with believers out in the Quechua communities or with non-believers.

There is no task I have that's more important than that one. I hope I can take a page out of my mom's book and accomplish it.