No in-depth post today because watching the Olympics put off my normal February activity of preparing for April 15th, if you know what I mean. Worked all evening on that and will probably not get done for days. However, I do hope to have a post for Thursday that will be dynamite.
But before that, I'd love to hear any missionary stories you might have. Specifically, if you went on a mission trip or have close friends who are missionaries, I'd love to hear your wildest tales of adventure. Leave them in the comments for this post and I'll see if any prove helpful to what I'll be posting in the near future.
Blessings!
Tags: Missionary, Missions, Missionaries, Church, Faith, Christianity, Jesus, God
About a month ago, I set for over an hour and listened to the tales from Chris Moore with Alpha Relief (www.alpharelief.org). I do not know Chris or know any more then I heard in that one night but his stories were James Bond in intrigue. As Chris spoke, I became very aware of the limitations that I have been placing on myself.
His first memories are of his burning Ugandan village as Edi Amin’s men persecuted the place where his parents were missionaries. The stories go on to his adult passion and many trips to face adversity in China. Then he moved to his most recent passion for the people of North Korea who are facing death for their love of a Christ they are just beginning to know. I don’t know if you are looking to interview someone but Chris’ story would make a compelling read.
Not having gone on any missions trips myself, I do not have any firsthand stories for you even though I have numerous relatives and friends who have done full time missions work. Our small group leader (and prof at the local seminary) has been reading some books you might find helpful in your pursuit. They are “Surprised by the Voice of God” and “Surprised by the Voice of the Spirit” by Jack Deere. I was fascinated by these stories as recounted by my teacher so I just have to read them for myself. I just ordered these two and a third by the same author from Amazon for about $29 (free shipping).
Blessings, Dan! Keep up the good work.
Darla
For 23 years (or so) I’ve had a good friend handle my taxes – besides the typical W2 stuff, I also have a lot of 1099 and other “side business” stuff that’s just a tad crazy to figure out.
But in the past few years, my buddy’s prices have gone up considerably – now that he works for a larger firm…
So, this year, I bought Turbo Tax and I’m trying to do our own! Since I have his info from the last several years, I figure I should be able to follow his plan – just plugging in the numbers for this year…
But I am a tad frustrated – cuz I don’t know if I’m doing everything right. My plan is to make tomorrow the last day I attempt to “do our own taxes” and, if I can’t make sense of it, then I’ll just send him my stuff, let him worry about it, and pay him for worrying and doing my taxes correctly…
Ugh… I’m a MUSICIAN, not a MATHMATICIAN!
I haven’t gone in a mission trip either but when I read the live of David Brainerd I am humbled. His life of prayer and his dedication to preach the gospel to the indians back in the mid-18th century is exemplary: 8 years as a christian, 4 of them devoted to missions and a life that impacted many lives.
I bet you’ve heard about him. I became acquainted with his diary after listening to a sermon by Leonard Ravenhill. Brainerd’s life inspired Henry Martin who went to India and preached the gospel for 7 years without seeing any convert. Nowadays that may be considered a failure in terms of megachurch “soul-winning”. However, after his death many reports were given of people converted to Christ as a result of his ministry.
Both of this men died young. The church needs to hear/be reminded of men like those: godly men on fire for Jesus!
Francisco
I went on a mission trip to Cuba during my senior year of high school with a team of about fifteen people, mostly my age. We did door-to-door evangelism in pairs with members of a church in Jovellanos during the day and led Bible studies at home churches in the evening, which were also led by members of the church. Three gnarly stories off the top of my head…
On one of the first two days of the trip, I was leading a couple of women in prayer to accept Christ, and it seemed as though the room we were in had gotten a lot darker, and it was like I was surrounded in a fog. And for some reason, I felt really confused and kinda got stuck with the prayer. I was also sweating bullets. Fortunately, my team member was able to lead me lead women with the rest of the prayer. When we’d finished, it was as if the room had become lighter, and when I walked outside, the sun had never looked so good.
There was one member of our group, about my dad’s age, who always seemed run into all the people who practiced Santeria and be able convert them. Midway through the week, we switched teams for a day, and I was paired with him and another guy. Towards the end of the day, we were walking along the street, and was saw an older guy sitting on his porch. We tried talking to him, but everything he said was jibberish, and his eyes seemed glazed over. We started praying, and it seemed like that dark fog was back for a bit. After a while, the guy’s eyes became clear and he spoke coherently.
The last little story from my trip took place on the same day. We were planning the Bible study and decided to go over a passage and have someone share their testimony. The older member of our group decided that I should share because he wanted to hear my story. I figured my testimony made just about the most boring narrative on the face of the earth and told him that. He replied that God could do anything with it, but I was still somewhat doubtful. When we got to the house where the study was being held, there was a little boy, about 11, who lived there. We interacted a bit, and I thought it would be really cool if he would accept Christ. After I told my testimony, he accepted Christ, and God proved me wrong.