Towards Reconciliation

our family's adventures in the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)

Tag: faith

God’s Provision – remembering how God has taken care of us during our first year

By

On November 2, 2015

In Chad

I have been consistently amazed at the way God has provided for us over this past year. Many things we prayed earnestly for. Some things we didn’t know we needed. A few things we didn’t even have the faith to ask for…

  • An organization in the States that specifically helps missionaries to ship containers overseas. We didn’t know this existed, and hadn’t plan to ship anything other than what we brought on the plane, but we found out about it while in France and were able to ship our solar power system from the U.S. We didn’t realize what a blessing this was until we got here.
  • Upon our arrival, there wasn’t anyone from our organization in the capital for a couple of weeks. A family we met in language school picked us up, took us to their house for lunch, let the kids play at their mission compound, and delivered us to our guesthouse. They introduced us to the director of their mission in Chad and his wife, who connected with a lady to help with the housework and cooking at our guesthouse. This was a life-saver in those crazy first few weeks.
  • The guest house we had reserved in the capital didn’t have much space for the kids to play, which we didn’t realize until we arrived. God provided two other compounds in the capital with lots of space, kids, and even a trampoline for the kids to burn some energy.
  • We arrived in Chad without having long-term visas lined up. We came on tourist visas, planning to arrange long-term visas through a contact Josh made through another worker with our organization. This worked out very well, and in addition to getting our long-term visas we have begun a relationship with a Chadian church that we think will provide many opportunities for ministry in the future.
  • When Josh went back to the capital to purchase a vehicle, he didn’t think about the difficulty of making the return trip alone. But God provided an English-speaking Chadian MBB who also needed a ride to Abeche to make the trip with Josh. Oh, and he also happened to be a mechanic.
  • The kids, especially Isaac, had a very difficult transition. He would wake up in the middle of the night screaming in his sleep with night terrors. After several nights of this we fell weeping to our knees, wondering what we’d done to our kids by bringing them here. We prayed, and Isaac calmed down almost immediately. From there on out his sleep patterns were much improved.
  • After a difficult month in the capital, we moved to Abeche and were blessed to have a comfortable house on a large mission compound. This provided some much needed rest and quiet space after the chaos of N’Djamena.
  • A Chadian friend who needed work and is experienced doing household maintenance and light construction. He has helped us since arriving in Abeche to make our house feel like home.
  • DANIELLE! We were struggling to figure out life in Chad while taking care of our family and learning the 2nd language in as many years when God intervened with a huge blessing. Through a series of circumstances Danielle, who was planning to join another team in Chad, joined us for a year to help with the kids while learning some Arabic herself. We honestly didn’t have the faith to even pray for someone like her to help, but God knew the need and provided for us.

We could list dozens more ways God has faithfully provided throughout this first year. Thank you Lord for your faithfulness!

Fatalism or Faith?

By

On September 6, 2015

In Chad, Culture, Ministry

Allah has willed it

How many times have I heard this statement in our first 10 months in Chad. It’s spoken of everything that happens. The four year old boy who was hit by a car while wondering along the side of a busy road. The man who dies on the operating table in our local hospital, from a relatively routine operation necessitated by an entirely preventable disease. The guy on the motorcycle who hit me today as he was trying to pass (on the left) as I was turning left, skidding across the pavement and fortunately (for him and for me) coming away with just a good scrape. “It happens, God willed it.” In this case God also apparently willed that I give him some money, but that’s another story.

It’s one of the characteristics of this society that has struck me the most – the complete acquiescence to the events of life, without any real hope that there is a divine plan and that it is good. It provides for me a picture of what happens when you have such a strong belief in the sovereignty of God, as Islam does, without knowing anything of the great love of God. I was talking to a friend several weeks ago who made a very profound (in my view) observation: Muslims certainly believe God is great, but they don’t really believe he’s good. Not on a personal, relational level. They wouldn’t say that, but it seems to be a valid observation. Their god is arbitrary and capricious. He demands robotic obedience to a long list of do’s and don’ts, but doesn’t give any assurance of salvation at the end of it all. Mohammad himself didn’t even have assurance.

I have a great burden for those all around me every day living and dying in hopelessness. We have so much to offer! Our God is sovereign AND GOOD! Life is full of difficulty and heartbreak, the curse of sin, but we have the cure! Jesus took the curse so that we don’t have too. And for those in Christ, there is a great, overarching purpose in all events of our life. We’re being conformed to the image of Christ, the ultimate end of God’s promise to “work all things together for good.” (Romans 8:28-29)

Pray for our friends and neighbors, some of whom are very proud of their many religious activities, others who have been beaten down by life and feel as if there’s no hope. Both types need to see their fatalism turned to faith.

A Chadian Family Feud

By

On August 10, 2015

In Chad, Culture, Ministry

What Bible stories or verses come to mind when an Arab nomad friend shares with you that just outside of town, his family has had a feud with not-so distant relatives that involved knives and guns and resulted in 4 deaths, including one child? Many women were injured, some cousins are in the hospital recovering from operations. Reconciliation attempts were made by offering camels in return for the lives of men, but even those attempts towards reconciliation are viewed as a statement that they are enemies and no longer family. What words of hope and peace do you offer someone who has only been taught retaliation? What will it take to change the hearts, not just of individuals, but of entire clans who at their core are proud, judgmental, and many times unforgiving because their god is the same way? These are the questions I’ve been asking myself today.

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

By

On March 24, 2015

In Bible, Ministry, Other thoughts

“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.

A Life of “Yes”

By

On October 10, 2014

In Chad

When we set out on this “adventure” to take the gospel to the unreached, Josh and I knew we couldn’t not go. We felt compelled to go, but I didn’t feel quite as compelled to leave what had become comfortable to me. My life over the last 4 ½ years as we have worked towards moving our family overseas started out as a lot of little “no’s,” each one slowly, in God’s grace and time, replaced by one big “Yes.” As we prepare to leave, I want to share this part of my story with you, not to highlight my great faith, because as you will soon see, being a missionary doesn’t make me immune to the common struggles of faith. Instead, I want to shine light on God’s faithfulness to me and my family even in times when I was not faithfully loving and trusting Him.
We started by praying for different “priority” people groups – those who were the focus of our sending organization. They were mostly located in Sudan and Chad. “Lord,” I prayed, “I am willing to go where you want, but I cannot go to Chad or Sudan. That is TOO hard. Too rough of an environment. I can’t do it.” (Are you laughing yet?!) Over time, we realized that our heart was burdened for those with the least access to the gospel, and we could not deny that this is where they were located. What choice was left but to say, “Yes” to Sudan and Chad?
Then, I became a mother. “Lord,” I said for the first seven months of Isaac’s life, “I cannot do this!” Motherhood was a hard transition for me, showing me a lot of selfishness and impatience and weakness in myself. I couldn’t imagine being responsible for my children in as hard a place as Sudan or Chad. Over time, and with a little more sleep, God showed me that He would be my strength and encouraged me as I met other families living and thriving with young children in hard places. Through God’s patience and grace towards me, this “no” became a “yes.”
But, Josh had a good job. We were comfortable. I enjoyed our house, our comfortable furniture, our king size bed. (I still miss those things!) I didn’t want to give them up. But at some point in all the preparations, God convicted me that even Jesus, the One whom I claimed to follow, had no place to lay his head. How could I be as prideful and self-centered as to think I deserved these comforts when my Lord gave up Heaven, life and comfort for sinners like me! Am I his follower now? If so, I must be willing to give up a few earthly comforts for His name sake. Convicted again. The no turned into a yes.
Fast forward to our time in France. I spent the first five months of our time there struggling through how I was going to be a mother and a missionary. I, along with other missionary moms at our school, found that I was struggling against the desire to stay comfortable and avoid the unknowns of life in Africa. I finally agreed that I was willing to live joyfully in Chad, but only in the capital. There was a need there anyways: someone needed to welcome the new teams coming to the country and I think I am a pretty hospitable person! Josh’s mentor did not encourage this idea and instead, he was pushing for us to consider moving out to where the “lost” are. “Easy for him to say!” – was my response. “Doesn’t he realize how hard it would be to go out there with no teammates?!” Josh decided to take a trip out to the eastern part of the country, and two sweet ladies from Texas came to encourage me and help me the week while he was gone. For me, it was a testimony to the Lord’s love and care for me even in the small things. For Josh, he got a clearer vision of the need in eastern Chad and came back with just the confidence I needed to ensure we could in fact live as a family even in such a remote “black hole” as eastern Chad. He met families with young children in the town who were doing well, and I began to have a peace and even excitement about moving there with purpose. In God’s providence, around the time Josh left for his trip, we met two other families at our school in France who are going to the exact same town as us. Over the next 6 months, we were able to cultivate those relationships and our children became good friends. We look back in thankfulness for the ways God showed us He is with us, and we forward with anticipation to what God has in store.
So, I have learned a lesson over the past few years of preparation: never tell God no! Or, if you do, don’t be surprised if He eventually leads you where you were too afraid to go. And, in the process, He will turn your “no” into a willful, voluntary “yes” for His glory and the furthering of His kingdom. I wish I could say that I have learned this lesson. I wish I could predict that from now on my answer will always be “yes” to the Lord. There will certainly be more challenges that lie ahead, and based on my track record, I am likely to have a few more battles with what God calls me to do in the future. However, I know that He will give me the grace needed to follow Him, all the while patiently and faithfully loving me, proving that He is the provider and sustainer of my life and the One who has called our family to the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5). May all our little answers add up to one life that says “Yes” to the Lord and may He be glorified even in our weakness.

The Time is Short

By

On October 8, 2014

In Chad, Ministry, Other thoughts

We are approaching the end of our whirlwind trip to the States and we have less than two weeks before we will be moving to Chad. We’ve spent hours packing and repacking (and sometimes repacking). We’ve driven over 3,000 miles to visit family, friends and supporters. We’ve spent hours in doctors offices getting checkups, shots, prescription refills, and Judah even had a cavity filled (I know, already!?). We’ve seen God’s faithfulness demonstrated over and over again, and we finish our time here with heavy hearts but also high hopes. Emotions are all over the map as we say goodbyes, make final preparations, and collapse at the end of the day in prayer that God would help our children adjust well and that our marriage would thrive despite the immense pressures of daily life in Chad.

I am overwhelmed by an acute sense of my weaknesses and limitations. I’m not competent to complete this task. I like to sleep in a house cooled to about 68-70 degrees, not lay there sweating under a mosquito net hoping for a drop into the 80s. I love Mexican food. I prefer thick green grass to rocks and dirt. I’m not even that good at sharing my faith. Sometimes I struggle for the right words; sometimes I am too self-absorbed to even notice the needs and opportunities around me. I sweat. A lot. Am I crazy?

Maybe, but one thing that’s settled in my mind is that there’s nothing else I’d rather do than move to Africa to bring the Great News to those who certainly could use some. Millions in Chad exist among ethnic groups with NO ONE to preach to them the most amazing message in the history of the universe. And with my eternity secure in the hands of the One who spoke the world into existence, what do I have to lose? A little comfort? This illusion we call “safety”? If we believe in the absolute Sovereignty of God, then we must also believe that the American suburbanite is no safer than the missionary in the most dangerous field. What did the Apostle Paul mean by “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” in Colossians 1?

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

It seems to me that Paul is saying that through his own suffering he testifies to the One who suffered for us, proclaiming His greatness by Paul’s willingness to joyfully endure suffering for the sake of the church and those who would be added to it. Oh that we would view danger, risk, and suffering in the same way Paul did!

So here we go – by faith in the one who is made strong in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:8-10).

In the words of John Patton:

Among many who sought to deter me, was one dear old Christian gentleman, whose crowning argument always was, “The cannibals! you will be eaten by cannibals!” At last I replied, “Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms.

soli Deo gloria

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén