Tag: Chad

Pleasing Man or Pleasing God? Thoughts on Galatians 1:10

On March 24, 2015

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10

In ministry and life, it is easy to muddy our motives. Even the best “works” for the Lord that we do are often tainted with the sin of pride or the desire to please others. This is no less true for the missionary on a foreign field. We give up a lot: family, friends, church, comforts, health, and many things that are familiar. In return, the majority of people back home who support our ministry can put us on a higher pedestal than is deserved. Many forget that we are normal people, struggling with normal sins and problems and temptations that every Christian struggles with. The only difference is we are doing it in a strange culture. Many times the sins and struggles become even more magnified: there is no cushion for hiding our sin problems when we are stripped of all that is familiar.

This verse in Galatians 1 has convicted me recently. At times when I have hard days and complain in my heart about the heat, the work load, the lack of conveniences, the lack of fellowship and deep friendship because of our chosen lifestyle, I am forgetting who I am living for. If my eyes and heart are focused consistently on the Lord, aiming to please Him, I am counted worthy to serving Him and am able to do so joyfully. When I look at my own problems or at my lack of worldly wants and needs, or even at the encouragement we receive from supporters, but forget Who it is I am serving, I quickly lose my joy and desire to serve. According to this verse, I also don’t deserve the privilege of being a servant of Christ. He has promised that following Him means losing much in the present life and gaining much in the life to come. How can I be His servant if my eyes remain on the things of this world? I am not worthy.

As one woman wrote me in a letter a few months ago, “You may be normal people with normal problems but at least you are serving.” This encouraged my heart. It is true for each of us who follows Jesus, no matter which country we are in. We are all normal people with normal sins and normal problems. There are two questions that must be answered. The first is: “Is Jesus enough? Is He worth it?” Is Jesus worth giving up, each day, my desires, my comforts, even those things I think are necessary to my well-being? The next question is, “Are we serving the Lord alone, or still seeking the approval of man?” Am I serving with a pure heart even when no one knows? Am I working wholeheartedly and with joy when no one says thank you? May it always be said of you and me that despite all, we are serving the Lord. He is enough for us.

I write this from my heart partly in attempt to encourage you to remain steadfast, keeping your eyes fixed on the prize which is Jesus, our joy. He is worth living for and dying for. I also write this as a plea for prayer. We need God’s grace daily, each moment, if we are going to thrive in life and ministry for the long term. If I am not seeking the approval of God alone in a place of ministry like Chad, then why am I here?! Your prayers and encouragement to us are important as God continues to sanctify us and prayerfully use us in this place, and we are grateful for you.

Kid’s Corner #3

By josh

On March 18, 2015

In Kid's Corner

There really should be more of these posts, but I probably take for granted the super cute things my two kiddos say daily. Every once in a while, something is said that I immediately know will be shared on the blog. Here’s two for you:

As we turned left, off of our dirt road filled with potholes, onto the paved road in Abeche, Isaac said, “Now we’re on the clean road, Mom. That road we live on is really dirty…it’s covered in dirt.” Why, yes, in fact, it is!

Another day, recently, I was not paying attention as we drove in the car in the busy capital city, N’Djamena. Isaac was sitting by the window and pointed out the men who lined the streets doing the 5 o’clock Muslim prayers. Without missing a beat he said, “Those men are praying to a false god, Mommy.” Reading the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal with Isaac, as well as other stories about the Israelites turning to false gods has become real to my almost 4 year old as he sees many people in Chad doing something similar. It’s been a great opportunity to remind him exactly why we are here – to tell them about Jesus!

Kid’s Corner – Chad In the Eyes of Isaac

By kimberly

On November 12, 2014

In Kid's Corner

When we stepped off the airplane in Chad a few weeks ago and into a bus that drove us up to the airport, I was pointing out to Isaac that a lot of men here wear a different kind of hat. Trying to make it exciting for him and hoping all the new and different things wouldn’t scare him, I pointed out the different designs and patterns that some of the hats had. He asked me if it was like a train conductor’s hat. I never thought of it like that, but you know what? It does look like a conductor’s hat!

Two days ago on our walk through a nearby neighborhood, Isaac noticed a mosque for the first time. He saw the tall part where the minaret is and he said with much excitement, “Look, I spy a lighthouse!”

Sometimes we need the eyes of a 3 year old to keep life entertaining!

A Typical Day in Chad

By kimberly

On November 1, 2014

In Family

We plan to be in the capital of Chad for about a month while we work on obtaining long term visas. So, we have already gotten to know the missionary community a bit and, having been here a week, feel like we know what our lives will look like for the next month while living in N’Djamena. When we get to Abeche, things will probably be quite a bit different because our housing will be more kid-friendly.
Sunday, we alternate places to go to church: on the SIL compound or at the home of a couple who works for the State Department (Sunday will be our first time to go to this home). At the SIL compound, we meet with other evangelical missionaries in the capital. Isaac stays with us during the song time and then his age is dismissed to a shady tree for Sunday School. Judah takes his nap on Josh or me and then I take him to play on a mat with other toddlers underneath another shade tree. I try to have a meal prepared before church so we can eat as soon as we get home.
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, Christine, a local believer, comes to help me with the housekeeping chores. I realized today that I for sure could not make it without a house helper, and Christine is great. She brought produce from the market around 9am. I cleaned the produce (soak it all in water and add a little bit of bleach for several minutes), worked on lunch, prepped diapers for her to wash, helped Josh figure out how to save our meat in our Yeti cooler (since our power is limited, the fridge/freezer is not able to fully do it’s job), in addition to taking care of the boys with Josh. While I did those tasks, Christine washed our clothes and Judah’s cloth diapers by hand, which saved me basically an afternoon of work so that I could be with the boys.
In the mornings, we like to take a family walk if we can before it gets too hot. Then we play on the back porch, which is the coolest place in the house in the morning. Our compound has no place for the boys to run around, so we are trying to be creative – taking walks, visitng other missionary compounds to play, going to the grocery store, etc. Sometimes Josh has errands to run, like working on visas or finding internet, etc. So, I stay home with the boys and then we have lunch together as a family. After rest time/nap time in the afternoon, we either go for a walk in the neighborhood, go visit friends who live here in the capital, or, hopefully soon, visit one of the nice hotels for a swim.
Tuesday afternoons, several missionary ladies meet for Bible study, so I attended my first one yesterday. It was nice to visit and pray with other women in the same place I am. I was encouraged by how settled they all seemed, whether they have been here a year or 15 years. While I attend the study, Josh plays with the boys on the SIL compound where there is a trampoline and a playground and lots of space to run and play.
When we arrived almost a week ago, I couldn’t see past the next day. Now as we are settling into a routine here, I still can’t see much past tomorrow, but I feel a lot more confident about functioning here as a family. God has been good to us. This is one more waiting place until we get to what we can hopefully call “home” for a while, but in this in-between time, we are thanking God for His faithfulness to us and His provision for all of our needs in such a new place!