A large part of the appeal of Wycliffe to me is our view towards "financial support". This is more accurately called Partnership because of the equality in ownership of a ministry that God is doing. He puts different people with different abilities and hearts together to accomplish something that otherwise would be impossible. I will hopefully put more detail later, but the gist is...
you're not asking for money, you're asking for people excited who want to join, and letting them decide the level of that partnership. Will they be prayers, encourages, come visit us, help financially support us.. what?
Thus we don't go on "fund raising trips" we go out seeking to do 2 things:
1 - glorify God by telling people, anyone, what God has done in our lives
2 - find the people who desire to get involved in some way.
number 1 above, is what planted the seed in our family years ago. We pray that God would be glorified through us and that we wouldn't be an obstacle (firewall) to His glory.
so... with that said... there is a reality to the fact that you have to pray for people to talk to, they don't know us or they do, they are excited to hear us or they aren't. We don't know how long we'll have or what the topic should be, or sometimes we do.
It can definitely sound like a chore. Pack the family up, get in the car, drive to a church, speak in front of the church, find a small group, get to know them and share what is going on. It sounds energy draining, laborious even.
It isn't. The reality is, yes it is work. Since Genesis man has had to toil. But...
God is SO awesome.
He is encouraging us every step of the way. How exciting is it when you find someone who really cares about what you are saying? It blows me away when people enjoy being around us and hearing what God is doing. I am deeply honored by the people who are joining us as partners.
I find that in my heart I am uplifted... seeing God work in Southern California is great! Some churches here are really catching on fire.
I can't describe what it is to not want to do a job, but know you must, set your mind to the point of sacrificing whatever you do, all the work, to God as worship, and then aligning your heart with God's because there is no point in grumbling while doing this chore, you need to be absolutely submissive to God's heart and will.... (excuse the run-on sentence) and then, when you've put everything you have into it, and are drained, God fills you through relationships and experiences. You find His Word, you meet people you love and who love you, you receive encouragement.
This process is a process of recognizing that God meets you when you work towards Him and for Him with the right heart.
We're in the middle of the week down here, and have visited 2 churches and a small group, we've spoken 2-3 times, and are anticipating one more church visit.
That's the work part... the blessing list is huge:
-we heard an amazing sermon
-we experienced an absolutely amazing testimony from one of the vp's at pepsico
-we saw people we haven't seen in years which is always so great
-we were able to meet other missions minded folks
-we spent time in family's homes and friends homes which is always an honor and a privilege.
-we saw the power of God in this process.
Honestly, I'm the kind of guy who finds leaving the home, packing, and driving 400 miles a huge chore. Staying in other people's homes you're always worried that your kids will behave etc.
But once I got my heart and mind to the point of... this is not a chore, it is a task that you are doing because God called you to the field, you are doing this out of obedience and out of worship to God.
Once I got there, and I got there pretty quick, God showed up and changed my attitude into one of flexibility, and awe.
God works like that, always has... working for Him, when you're in that zone, that right place, is ALWAYS more filling than anything else.
To me, the fact that serving is energizing and filling and encouraging and strengthening your walk in Christ, is the most important signal that you are in God's will.
I've been in "ministry" my whole life, some jobs are really draining, others pump you up.
This job, has pumped us up, and we've only jsut begun!
Thank you to all who have been praying and reading... HI to all our new friends and readers!
Prayer:
----we would LOVE to see more people come on board as a result of this trip, we would love to find great prayer warriors and ... because we like making a task so huge only God can accomplish it and thus be glorified we are praying that within a month of this trip we'll be at 50%
Could you join us in that prayer?
I'll throw out the biggest one, we're praying for 100% by July, 2006.
Only God can accomplish this task. If He opts not to, we realize we will submit to his timing and clock, but our passion is to go in January.
