Musings of a Mission Mom

The main speaker for the Kumbya Conference was Dr. Jim Copeland from World Venture. He's also worked with Promise Keepers. He talked about Shepherd Leadership. A big part of his job with World Venture is recruiting new missionaries and he travels around to college campuses, both Christian and secular, to do it. He hears a lot of reasons/excuses that young people give for not allowing God full control over their lives. A summary is that they are afraid God will tell them to go somewhere they don't want to go, marry someone they can't love, work with people they won't like, and do something they won't want to do. He said, "What do they think God is like?" What kind of a God wold create you with gifts and skills, say He loves you, and then try, on purpose, to make your life miserable?

I remember that when I was growing up, Africa seemed to be the place people were afraid God would ask them to go. The thought struck me that we've brought our children to Africa. They won't think of it as a vague, fearful place because they will have lived here. So, if, in the future, God calls them back here, maybe it won't seem like such a hard thing. Maybe for you who know us, your children will remember that their friends did it so they can do it, too. Or, just maybe they'll think, "If going to Africa is possible, whatever God asks of me is possible."

As we've met various missionaries of many nationalities who work in several countries with many different organizations, Patsy Claremont's book, God Uses Cracked Pots!, keeps coming to mind. I often feel like a "cracked pot" with many flaws and wonder how, or if, God can use me. Even now, with my role here still rather vague and undefined I wonder what I really have to offer.

Who is the person God can use?

Maybe it's middle-aged Nancy (names are changed) with blonde hair and a bright smile, who for several years spent most of her time in bed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome wondering if she'd have enough energy to take her next breath. Now whe leads worship in the large church her husband pastors in Kigali.

Maybe it's Joy, who studied opera and tried more than once to commit suicide as she suffered from depression. In desperation she told God she'd do anything if He would spare her life. God led her to service in Japan where she received the care and healing she needed and earned a black belt in Tai Kwan Do in the process. While she was teaching in Japan she connected through E-Harmony with a widowed dad with two small daughters who was a missionary in Rwanda. An incredible story later, she became a wife, a mother, and moved to Rwanda all in about seven months' time. They are here raising their daughters and training pastors.

Maybe it's gray-haired Mary, who was born to missionary parents and raised in Burundi. She went to England for college and worked as a Bobby in London before going to seminary and returning to Central Africa to plant churches.

Maybe it's young, trendy Audrey with a nose piercing, who was born in The Netherlands as a result of rape. Her very abusive childhood brought her to multiple suicide attempts.

Maybe it's her husband, Scott, with his earrings and tongue piercing, who grew up in a Christian home in California. God led them both to Hawaii with a mission organization where they met and knew God had brought them together. He gave them a vision and a passion for orphans in Africa. Now they are here, raising four small daughters, one of which they adopted here, and helping widows and orphans from the war to recover from trauma.

Maybe it's Bryan, a single man in his early 30's from England, who has been here for several years training and helping people to start small businesses. One of them teaches orphaned teens to create greeting cards. The profits help them care for their younger siblings and provide further training and education. Other businesses include selling computers and software, selling milk, and starting a preschool. His dream is to create a school where people can learn sound principles of business and economics and learn about Jesus.

Do any of these people fit your image of someone God can use in His Kingdom? A missionary? Just maybe God can use...me. Maybe He can use you.