My husband and I are visiting good friends in British Columbia this week. We met them 20 years ago when our families were being over-run by diapers, binks, and babies. Ministry and family did not always allow us adequate time together over the years. But we all tried to keep in touch - especially when Howard left law enforcement and he and Jannie moved to Canada as (gasp!) missionaries with NAIM.
Since arriving here, I have found myself praying more and reading the Bible more. Part of this is the schedule that our friends have of reading scripture after every meal - wonderful idea. Part of this is the culture they are now a part of that holds its people in great spiritual bondage, let alone poverty and discrimination. Part of this is also the fact that Jannie just got word that her mother has suffered a heart attack and is in the hospital in Holland.
I am humbled by their faith, its strength and its simplicity. I am humbled by their gratefulness and thankfulness to God. I am humbled that they live life as testimony that God is truly God and Lord of their lives.
Sometimes I forget that missionaries are real people with families who find themselves in crisis like the rest of us. Sometimes I forget what they glady sacrifice on a personal level to reach others with the Good News of the Gospel. Sometimes I forget that I am called to the same life of evangelism to my mission field at work, on the train, in the grocery store, or among my neighbors.
How different it would be if we all lived like we were on "the mission field". . .
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