The Risk

Sitting for weeks in hospitals keeping a vigil eye on my husband led me to read almost every book in my husband's Kindle while he was entertained by nurses and doctors, IV's and catheters.  Three hospitals in three countries in three weeks is probably not something either one of us want to repeat very soon. Today he was released from the Powell hospital in our home town of Wyoming and we are encouraged that Phil is truly on the mend. We are so thankful for God's care and everyone's prayers and words of encouragement. In all of this, I have been doing a lot of thinking about the risks of serving in a third-world country.

Without a doubt when we serve we take risks. Those risks come in all shapes and sizes and can be costly. God doesn't promise when we serve we won't get malaria, we won't have accidents, or we won't be put in prison and beaten for our faith like Saeed Abenini in Iran. There is no written contract that we sign on the designated line that guarantees our safety nor our success. But there is one guarantee. God promises His presence. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us. I can honestly say we felt His presence and His care in the last 8 years that we served in Mozambique. And what if we hadn't taken risks?

I look back over the years and have a lot of memories of opportunities that God gave us to make a difference.  There were those that accepted Christ in the last hours of their lives such as the truck driver who had AIDS and little orphan Eva who had been abandoned by her family. There are those who were given a chance to start a business like Manuel who now can afford to put all six of his children in the government school.  Then there was Ana, whose mentally disabled son destroyed her mud home so she had to sleep outside on the ground in a dangerous situation. She and 86 other families received a safe, cement block home through the Green Door ministry. I could go on....the Savane church plant who were blessed with a beautiful cement block church to replace their building of stick and mud. The 180 families now in Project Life, our AIDS hospice who receive the Word each week through our Bible studies and have accepted Christ as their Savior. Even as I say these things, only God knows for sure the eternal consequences of two people choosing to take the risks in serving Him in Dondo. But even if just one person came to faith in Jesus....wasn't it worth the risk?

I have found in the midst of all the discomforts, disappointments and difficulties in serving that there is no greater joy for me than to share the Word of God with eager ears who have never heard the Truth before. To see the Light go on in their hearts and minds is my passion. We have been thankful for the unique opportunity during this window of time to serve Christ in a difficult and dark country.  Any risk pales in comparison to Christ who left the comfort of His perfect home knowing He would suffer hell's wrath for a people who didn't care.

For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!] 2 Corinthians 4:17  Amplified Bible (AMP)

While waiting at Marben Manor for arrangements
for our return to the States I decided to take
pictures of the flowers and insects. I was amazed
at the wonderful birds that South Africa has
compared to Mozambique.  Often birds are eaten
in Mozambique for want of affordable meat. So it
was a pleasure to hear the birds and see the
wonderful varieties God has given them. I wanted
to photograph the birds but they were too fast
for my tired legs! The flowers and butterflies
were more my speed and some of them
actually looked like they were posing for me!