Tag Archives: Missionaries

A Life is A Life

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“People say to me all the time, “Wow, you’re so lucky that you found what God wants you to do with your life.” I look at those people and think I didn’t find it, it was just in the Bible.  As someone who calls themselves a Christian it is very apparent that you are to love the Lord with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.” Katie Davis

I often imagine myself in a third world country working at an orphanage. I picture Josiah running in the sand, playing kickball with the older boys, Victoria sitting in the sun braiding the little girl’s hair, Alayna rocking precious babies under a tree, and Kayla playing dolls with the youngest ones on the porch.  My heartstrings are pulled for the hurting and lost. There are many days I wish I could just pack up our family and move to Africa!

This to me is the greatest ministry possible. Serving some of the poorest people on earth and sharing God’s love with them.

Processed with VSCO with b1 presetAs I ponder on these thoughts God quickly spoke to my heart, “I care for the students in Fusion (a middle school ministry at our church) as much as I care for those kids in Africa.”  Wow! You’re right God (of course he’s right…lol). My mind has always glorified missionaries that make the track overseas. When to God a life is a life. He doesn’t place a higher value on the person that lives in Zimbabwe or Liberia. Each life is equally as important.  Our kids in America may have food and clothes, but they are mentally and emotionally hurting more than ever. If everyone felt called to be missionaries to third world countries, who would be left to help the next generation from turning away from God?

Let me encourage you today. To the ones who rather be working in Peru, China, or even South Africa as a missionary, your mission field is right where you are. God has placed people all around you that you have the power to influence, the words to encourage, and the abilities to show God’s love. Pray and seek his guidance, but in the end, he may just say, stay put, your boss, your classmate, your client, needs ME and they will only see ME through you.

Reading with Purpose

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“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”
~Amy Carmichael

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The last sentences in the book read, “The family had promised not to mark her grave with a headstone, but they hoped she would forgive them for placing a stone birdbath over her grave. It bore a single word: Amma.” Amma stands for mother in the Hindu culture and Amy Carmichael had become an Amma to hundreds of girls and boys, something she didn’t welcome at first. Her hesitation came from an old saying in the Tamil language, “Children tie the mother’s feet.” It means that when a woman becomes a mother she is no longer free to do all the things she had done before. It is as though her feet are tied together and she cannot go far from home. Amy’s heart was to minister to the people of India and she didn’t know how she would be able to carry out that call with kids, but God did!

As you plan for your upcoming homeschool year, I highly recommend the Christian Heroes: Then & Now. They are inspiring true stories of men and women who answered God’s call. I choose one or two a year to read aloud to the kids. We have completed George Muller, The Guardian of Bristol’s Orphans, Gladys Aylward, The Adventure of a Lifetime, and today finished Amy Carmichael, Rescuer of Precious Gems. These stories will make you laugh and cry. Your children will learn about different cultures, countries, and the hardships many faced aboard. Chapter after chapter you will read about ordinary men and women whose trust in God accomplished extraordinary exploits for His kingdom and glory.

You can purchase these at Christianbookstore.com or YWAM Publishing.