April 15, 2009

The Voice from Behind

Can I share where we are personally now? We knew what the third world looked like before we came here. We knew that "poor" means something different here than it does at home. We knew that Christian phrases weren't prevalent in everyday vocabulary, and that not everyone knows who Jesus is. We knew that we wanted to share God's love with the people living here. We came with a goal and have worked toward that goal. Along the way, however, we've become more and more aware of the immensity of things we expected to see, and of things we didn't.

We're at one of those places right now where the needs we see are so great, and it's hard to discern where to focus. We obviously still see the mission school as our primary goal for being on the mission field, but real-world opportunities to reach out to people present themselves here quite often. We are trying hard to listen to God's voice so that we don't overload ourselves with shotgun efforts to meet ALL the needs, and render ourselves ineffective at meeting any needs well.

For example, this past week, we've been approached by two different young ladies on two different days, about their education goals. Both have excellent grades and want to continue studying in college, to come back and work in their communities in the field of public health. One is on a full-scholarship but needs a bit more money to be able to live near the school, where she is studying to be a doctor. Her family has been working as hard as they can to afford a shared apartment rental, to the point that she can't afford to buy food while she's there at school during the week. Her mother tries to send enough food back with her when she leaves on Mondays to last her until she makes the bus trip back home. The other young lady is living at home and studying to be a nurse, but her college fees are too expensive to continue. It's hard to see these needs, to know what a benefit the health-care workers would be in this community, to understand what a difference having such a job would make for the futures of these two ladies.

This is just one thing, not to mention the public education system, the sexual promiscuity, the alcoholism, and the list goes on. Our sense of right and wrong gets overwhelmed and we want to DO SOMETHING to fix all these problems. Ken is a great one for keeping me from jumping the gun, but he, too, feels the same pressure to try to make a difference in each of these areas and so many more. It's especially hard when someone comes to you asking for help, I've found. I don't like to say no.

For me, this is also a big issue because I've always struggled with filling my plate too full. Just being a housewife/homeschooling mom here takes a good bit more effort than it did at home, so I'm trying to monitor myself to prevent overkill. We really need clear direction from God on a daily basis to be sure we are focused where HE wants us focused, and not going off on our own sideroads or soapboxes. I am reminded of what Isaiah had to say about hearing from God in chapter 30, verse 21. As you pray for us this week (I hope you do), please pray that this scripture will be strong in our lives right now. We don't want to do anything out of the perfect will of God, and we want to follow Him closely each day, clearly hearing His guiding voice.

"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk you in it, when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left."(AKJV)


1 comment:

  1. Wow, I can completely relate to that struggle. In fact, seven years on the field and I'm still wrestling to keep a clear focus. I'm learning though that Jesus was constantly stopped and interrupted by people and He made time for them. People are why we're here.

    ReplyDelete

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