Its been six weeks.
Six weeks since returning home from a country on the opposite side of the world that stole my heart.
I've had a hard time putting adequate words together to explain why going sanctifies me so. Or why I'm restless until my next meeting with brothers and sisters from far away places.
or how stepping on different continents in this big ol' world grows my faith exponentially.
The only answer I have is that it allows me to see God's Word in plain sight. Over and over.
I see His faithfulness.
I see His steadfastness to pursue the lost.
I see His sheep being called.
I see His love stretch across the impossible.
There is nothing that comes close on this side of heaven. Its like our sneak peek to see how mighty our God is, especially when you enter a place where the government says He isn't suppose to be.
And the realization that you never know how BIG HE is until you see how FAR HIS love can reach.
My friend Emily put it best, "Until you enter into their world, hug their necks,
hold their hands,
breathe their air, and look into their eyes....
.....it changes everything.
Our G0d was not welcome here in this place,
and yet His presence was so very tangible.
The work He had set before us here became very clear and very simple. We were not so ill-equipped after all. Seminary degrees were not required here. What our beautiful friends on the other side of the world needed most of all was love and the good news of our Savior.
Brothers and sisters who had gone before us and devoted their lives to this work. They had been planting seeds for quite some time. We saw the new fruit of their labor when we finally met Asian friends whose dark eyes shined indeed with the love of Christ!
Their smiles brightened the strange world we had entered. Many of them still did not share our language, but the love that shone through their smiles was the very same.
Christ love.
They complimented my bright blue eyes and I told them how beautiful I thought they were. I quietly marveled at their courage to believe in a land where it is forbidden and they squealed with delight to think the Father had brought us around the world just to share His love with them.
My friends showed me how to stand tall in the face of adversity and to follow my S@vior in every circumstance and at any cost. They taught me you don't have to be an expert at anything to be an ambassador for Christ.
I came back home on a safe flight to my familiar foods and loving family. I woke the next morning and went to w0rship with thousands of others, with no fear of consequence. My routine has resumed, but a piece of my heart will forever be in Asia. When I am waking, they are sleeping. When they are rising, I am going to bed. My sisters, all of us created in the image of our Father for His gl0ry, doing life on the other side of the world just like I am.
It grieves my heart to think of how those bright faces might have looked if our friends before us had not dared to go and share their lights and share Gods love.
What if they had chosen to stay here, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, feasting on comforts galore, instead of daring to be that city on a hill for my sisters?
What if no one had gone and shared the good news?
Our team cannot yet see the fruits of our labor in Asia. We don't know where the seeds we scattered have fallen. But we rejoice in knowing we went. We are honored to have had the chance to be fellow laborers in a land where the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Won't you go?
Won't you let your light shine?
One light ignites another and another and another... until the darkness must flee.
Go. He'll take care of the rest."
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5.14-16
Six weeks since returning home from a country on the opposite side of the world that stole my heart.
I've had a hard time putting adequate words together to explain why going sanctifies me so. Or why I'm restless until my next meeting with brothers and sisters from far away places.
or how stepping on different continents in this big ol' world grows my faith exponentially.
The only answer I have is that it allows me to see God's Word in plain sight. Over and over.
I see His faithfulness.
I see His steadfastness to pursue the lost.
I see His sheep being called.
I see His love stretch across the impossible.
There is nothing that comes close on this side of heaven. Its like our sneak peek to see how mighty our God is, especially when you enter a place where the government says He isn't suppose to be.
And the realization that you never know how BIG HE is until you see how FAR HIS love can reach.
My friend Emily put it best, "Until you enter into their world, hug their necks,
.....it changes everything.
Our G0d was not welcome here in this place,
The work He had set before us here became very clear and very simple. We were not so ill-equipped after all. Seminary degrees were not required here. What our beautiful friends on the other side of the world needed most of all was love and the good news of our Savior.
Brothers and sisters who had gone before us and devoted their lives to this work. They had been planting seeds for quite some time. We saw the new fruit of their labor when we finally met Asian friends whose dark eyes shined indeed with the love of Christ!
Their smiles brightened the strange world we had entered. Many of them still did not share our language, but the love that shone through their smiles was the very same.
Christ love.
They complimented my bright blue eyes and I told them how beautiful I thought they were. I quietly marveled at their courage to believe in a land where it is forbidden and they squealed with delight to think the Father had brought us around the world just to share His love with them.
My friends showed me how to stand tall in the face of adversity and to follow my S@vior in every circumstance and at any cost. They taught me you don't have to be an expert at anything to be an ambassador for Christ.
I came back home on a safe flight to my familiar foods and loving family. I woke the next morning and went to w0rship with thousands of others, with no fear of consequence. My routine has resumed, but a piece of my heart will forever be in Asia. When I am waking, they are sleeping. When they are rising, I am going to bed. My sisters, all of us created in the image of our Father for His gl0ry, doing life on the other side of the world just like I am.
It grieves my heart to think of how those bright faces might have looked if our friends before us had not dared to go and share their lights and share Gods love.
What if they had chosen to stay here, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, feasting on comforts galore, instead of daring to be that city on a hill for my sisters?
What if no one had gone and shared the good news?
Our team cannot yet see the fruits of our labor in Asia. We don't know where the seeds we scattered have fallen. But we rejoice in knowing we went. We are honored to have had the chance to be fellow laborers in a land where the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Won't you go?
Won't you let your light shine?
One light ignites another and another and another... until the darkness must flee.
Go. He'll take care of the rest."
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5.14-16
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2 comments:
thank you for sharing! our God is so mighty!
I've been to Vietnam once and China twice. China holds a piece of my heart. Plan to return next year.
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