Ministry and Life at the Crossroads

 I think I have a problem.

This morning as I checked the news, I got an alert to urgently pray for the missionary staff of a hospital located in the Goma and Northern Kivu region.  If you google that on a map, it's located in the "democratic" Republic of the Congo, (DRC) on the far eastern side near Uganda and Rwanda.  They're having a war, and the hospital has been cut off from everything, in a very dangerous situation.  

It's sorta complicated, but let me try to explain my feelings here.  Tony and I spent about 15 hours trapped in an airport in Kinshasa with a 2-yr-old back in 1977.  The officials had 'confiscated' our passports.  They'd also (just for fun) locked the toilets, so we were 'stuck' in several ways.  We had a lot of time to pray.  Tony had been in the Congo a few years before and due to corrupt border guards was forced to buy the entire group a beer to get his car (and who knows what else) back.  Suffice it to say, we've never been fond of this country.

But as I read this news bite, the first thought that crossed my mind was, "I want to be there!"  I want to 'face the day' with these Godly folk who bring light (and health) to those who so desperately need it.

OK, so several of you are now clucking your teeth and wiping me off your 'friends' list.  It's true, I have a problem.

And then to add insult to injury, after reading the news headlines this morning, I read my Bible and (I’m not kidding on the timing of this) here's what Jesus said in Matthew 16:24-26…

“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?”

Call it what you want, but I still want to go to the 'ends of the earth' ............ but I'm having to realize that we probably no longer can. 

This last trip to Kathmandu is still haunting us, Tony spent a few lovely hours in the ER this last week, just trying to get his numbers in the right places. It seems to be under control now … just waiting for a couple of more tests.

Not to be left out, tomorrow I’m also looking forward to the thrill of that little trip with the camera which involves fasting and a nice nap, regarding some suspicious findings. (I’ll spare you the details but appreciate your prayers).

Point is, I don't think I am going to resonate with being that sweet granny who sits in her recliner and prays for the people out there doing the work. I still want to be one of those people!

While in Kathmandu, we had some interesting discussions about a guy named Sunder Singh.  He was an early Indian (Sikh) convert to Christianity in the late 1800's. He even had a 'Damascus' like encounter with Jesus in the process of his conversion, making it all the more real, as he as yet knew nothing of Paul’s experience. 

He was so excited to find Christ that he immediately left the world as he knew it and set out to fulfill the Great Commission. Taking no provisions, money or extra clothes, he started hiking the Himalayan trails from India and Nepal as far as Tibet. 

Whenever someone wanted to find him, they’d just start walking from one new church plant to another. This is why the people we were teaching in Kathmandu like him so much, since they're doing practically the same thing (only they chose to carry a few provisions).

It’s interesting to note that Sundar was ordained and commissioned by a mission group, but after a few days, he returned the certificate, saying that only God needed to confirm him.  If you research Sundar’s life, he had a few strange ideas, but no one can deny that he was committed to bringing Christianity to India and beyond. 

And then, one day he headed out into the mountains … and never came back. No one ever found any evidence of his demise.  I'm thinking … Enoch?  

Well anyway, that’s how I want to go.  Well ...... maybe not the disappearing part, but finding myself at the end of the journey completely used up. An empty shell ready for the Kingdom. Knowing that, somehow, I’ve made a difference.  

But reality hits me up the side of my head, and I realize that I’m not really Sundar material after all. Yeah, I think a lot of doing ministry “out there”, but I also think a lot about fixing up our house with a limited budget, cruises and other fun stuff, intermixed with medical issues that just keep getting in the way. 

Please tell me I’m not alone in my “wanna do ministry/gotta do life on every level” issues. So many of you out there are a real inspiration to me. Teach me how to live as God’s child while simply living day to day.  I know so many of you out there are real "Pray-ers" and I thank you for that.  

As always, 

Marsha


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