Tag Archives: missionary

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Seven years ago, Cindy and I responded to the call to become foreign missionaries and made a seven-year plan that would see us finally on the ground in Uganda, East Africa. The seventh year is here! Seven years ago we made our intentions public. We called things that are not as though they are, and now the seeds we cultivated are budding and will be in full bloom very soon. 

Three days ago I tendered my resignation from the hospital that has been my second home since July 17, 2017. My last day in the E.R. will be April 14th, exactly seven years since we prepared to board a plane for Uganda the first time. Since I notified my coworkers of  intentions, I’ve had to answer a lot of questions, the answers to some of which are still up in the air. 

"I tendered my resignation from the hospital"

Since I count on those of you who read this to be in prayer for us, I will fill you in on our human plans so far. In keeping with the teaching of James, I will not be so vain as to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there…” (James 4:13-15*). We are responsible, however, to plot our course for the Lord to direct our steps (Proverbs 16:9*), and here I will articulate the general course we have set. 

God willing… I will travel alone to Uganda April 24th, spend six weeks at a mission in Karuma, helping where I can, and assessing where Cindy and I can best be used in that mission. I will return June 5th, and spend the next several months in resource development, recruiting the mission sending partners we need to make our ministry a reality. Then, if it suits the Lord and the mission in question, the long-term deployment will begin in September. It is that close! It’s practically here!

"I will travel alone to Uganda April 24th"

Now the bad news. Cindy will be staying behind in Florida, taking care of her aging parents for a time, and will join me at a later date. We understand this takes a toll on a marriage, but believe we are divinely equipped to make even a long-distance relationship work. We recognize the importance of honoring parents and not deserting them in the name of ministry (Matthew 15:4-6, Mark 7:10-13*). While Cindy has a duty to her parents in their unexpectedly changing circumstances, I am reminded of Jesus’ words:

“No one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Luke 18:29, NIV*, emphasis mine; see also Matthew 19:29 and Mark 10:29*). 

I am not sacrificing merely to receive what these verses promise, but I do see Jesus’ teaching as approving of a missionary’s deployment, even without his precious bride when necessary, for the sake of the Kingdom. Please pray with us that all will go according to God’s will and that our every thought, word, and action will bring Him glory through Christ Jesus, in whose name we do all. 

*Scripture references

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Photo credit https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Lumière

“Life is so unnerving for a servant who’s not serving.
He’s not whole without a soul to wait upon.”
- Lumiere, from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Jesus, in His great commission, said:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew‬ ‭28:19‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

When He sent out the Twelve, Jesus said:
“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” (Matthew‬ ‭10:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

To the seventy-two missionaries, He said:
“Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” (Luke‬ ‭10:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

So we have several instances of Jesus sending out ministers of His message to heal and teach. We are commissioned to go into our world doing likewise, just as the Pharisee was instructed to act as the Good Samaritan, who nursed a stranger (Luke 10:25-37).

This same Jesus who sent you into all the world said:
“where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” ‭‭(Luke‬ ‭12:34‬ ‭NIV‬‬).

Like Lumiere, you may feel as though you aren’t going far enough, doing enough, or shining your light in a meaningful enough way. We would like to offer ourselves to you as representatives, vessels of blessing through which you may extend yourself to the other end of the world. As we advance into Uganda, please send us with your prayers and your heart. The word for this sort of substitution is used more formally in the church is “ordain,” defined by Dictionary.com as: “to invest with ministerial or sacerdotal functions; confer holy orders upon.”

Would you consider ordaining us to represent your heart in East Africa? We need partners who will commit to pray for us, follow our progress, and send their hearts and regular financial support. Please consider being a sending partner with us. To connect in this way please visit our donor/partner page.

PARTNER WITH US

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James‬ ‭1:27‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

Want to go a step further? Would you help us multiply our sending support base? Would you approach your small group, Bible study, church congregation or regional leadership and share what we are doing? We need a broad foundation from which to launch, and we are eager to share this ministry with as many as are willing to send us.

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I’m hurting. My spirit is dark and my heart is heavy. I felt like a liar every time I told someone this morning that I was doing fine. If you think missionary wannabes don’t have dark periods, I’m proof they do. The one who steals, kills, and destroys is busy in the lives of those who seek to do Kingdom work! Our Bible study this morning addressed the first of the Beatitudes of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit...” (Matthew 5:3) and I was overwhelmed with a familiar relationship with that description. 

The way I relate to it, poverty of spirit is the recognition that, without a Savior, all I have, am, will, or do amounts to precisely NOTHING. It is the “bottom” from which I can look up and say, Lord, lift me up, fill me, and be my everything. It is the point at which, according to Jesus’ first sermon, blessing begins. 

In recovery circles, this recognition is Step One to building an arch through which to walk into the sunlight of the Spirit. Some of you know that I am recovering from an eating disorder. Today I recognize again that, while I serve the god of my selfish appetites, I am spiritually bankrupt. Absent a vital connection with Christ and His life-giving Spirit, I am powerless over sin and selfish desires, and my life is unmanageable without God’s influence in it. 

The glory of the proclamation of this Beatitude is that the blessing begins here. Though, in my darkness of spirit, I may best relate to Noah in a torrent, Shadrach in a furnace, Daniel in a lion pit, Jonah in the depths, Lazarus in his grave, or David the Psalmist whose waves and breakers had overwhelmed him (Psalm 42), every one of those stories ends in deliverance — a deliverance that is promised to me too when I live in the life-giving grace that God, through Christ Jesus, breathes into us one moment, one breath, one day at a time. 

Today, I die again to self, because the idol of self-service is lethal, and I call again to my Creator, “Breathe into me once more Your breath of life, and hold me close in Your grip of grace.” I place myself at His feet in the knowledge that He will gently lift me into His embrace. 

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NIV)

May the abundant life for which Christ came to deliver to us be yours as well, as we each draw His next breath of life. 

References: Genesis 2:7, John 10:10, Matthew 5:3, Psalm 9:13, Romans 16:18, Genesis 7:17, Daniel 3:26, Jonah 1:17, John 11:43-44, Psalm 42:7, 11, Galatians 2:20 (Read all)