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Thursday, February 7, 2013

The Worst Missionary Ever

I am 23 years old. My wife is 27 years old. We have no children, and have been married for less than 2 years. About 5 months ago we moved here to Eldoret, Kenya to work as House Parent at an orphanage. We felt like it was what God was calling us to do. My wife and I had never lived more than an hour away from our parents in the great state of Tennessee. We came here with big dreams and a lot of high ambitions of what we were going to do. So a quick recap.... newly married, no children, hardly any money, and moving off to take care of 20 orphans in a country that is on the other side of the world. Does that even make sense?..........

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about a man named Gideon. Gideon was the weakest person in his entire family, and his family was the weakest in the entire tribe. His tribe was under captivity by another tribe called the Midianites. Anyways, God came and told Gideon that he was a mighty warrior and that he would drive out the Midianites. Gideon??? The guy who is the weakest in his entire family, which is the weakest family in the entire tribe. And, just like it always does with God, it happened. With Gideon. Does that even make sense?.............

Sometimes I can feel like Gideon felt. I wonder why in the world God would choose to send me over to Kenya. It doesn't really seem to make sense. I mean, obviously there are a lot more qualified people out in the world than my wife and me. I mean, do you have any children? Then you are already more qualified than we are for this task. So for this reason, I feel so humbled that my wife and I have been chosen to come over here and serve God by ministering to these 20 precious children. God sometimes uses our weakness so that he can reveal his glory. His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

I guess that what I am trying to say is that maybe you have a dream that you feel like is way out of your reach. You have something great you want to do to serve God. But you feel like it is completely unrealistic... You don't have the money. You don't have the skills. You're not smart enough.... etc. But the truth is that God can do anything when we just have faith and open our lives up and say "YES" to God. The Bible says that God is able to do more than we can ask or imagine. So trust in God.

My wife and I may be the biggest "misfits" to ever step into the missionary field. But if God is with us, "then who can be against us?" What has God called you to do? Even if it seems crazy, DO IT!!!

Be Blessed!

5 comments:

  1. God blessed the Israelites when they left Egypt with nothing - God works in an "opposite day" kind of kingdom - sometimes God calls you out and it is just a journey that brings you back - sometimes it takes you somewhere else! He put something awesome in you that will grow and bloom in this journey. He is not surprised! I will be praying for you guys - from the great state of TN:)
    http://bluecottonmemory.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/ordinary-dreams-of-an-everyman/

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  2. That sounds exactly like God to me! He doesn't do 'our' that makes sense. But you know what...His sense makes a whole lot more sense.

    He qualifies you...His love qualifies you to be his hands and feet. Simple.

    One correction (tongue in cheek and seriously)...best missionaries ever. That's His opinion. And His is the only one that counts!

    Bless you abundantly and I'll be sure to drop in here on a regular basis!

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    1. Thanks for the encouragement. You are absolutely right that he is the one that qualifies us. It's so easy to get focused on others opinions of yourself and to forget that God's opinion is the ultimate truth. We are excited to see everything God does on this journey. Enjoyed the comments.

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  3. I found your blog through FMF. Y'all are precious. Just precious. My sweet friend, Waneda, is in Eldoret as a missionary, too. I got so excited when I saw you were there!
    Anyway, in response to your post. It sounds like y'all are being stretched and stretched--and it seems like you already know that is for the glory of God. Thank you for your willingness to 'GO'.
    Remember, Noah was a freak, too. :)

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    1. Thank you so much! Do you know what ministry she is working with? We see plenty of westerners walking around, but we have not met many other missionaries.

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