Several days ago Dove and I were walking down the street, with buses, bikes, and beautiful people buzzing by. It was our weekly meeting. I had just downed a bowl of hot pepper noodles with chicken chunks, and now we both had chocolate ice cream bars in hand. Then she asked me, “How do you think this year has gone?” Wow, it’s hard to believe it is, in fact, almost “gone.” I thought about it for a moment and told her I think it’s gone great. By the Father’s grace, we’ve accomplished what we’d set out to do. We’ve seen people who didn’t know come to saving faith; we’ve seen fledging family members become strong and ready to stand on their own. We’ve laughed hard and grown to love each other even harder. And I love doing it!
I told Dove about how I felt last year before I came. I remember thinking, “I’m going to be the first CT person who is a failure.” At that time I knew that was a lie, but that was the fear that tugged at my heart. It’s been great to see my fear fade away, and in in its place there has grown more and more expectation of good things coming. That’s the way it should be; I do serve a big God, don’t I?
Well, the last time I sent an update (a long time ago; sorry about that), I wrote about some spiritual attacks our team was facing on the eve of a State-side training and an Asia-side prayer/scouting trip. The training turned out really well. Most importantly, I heard that Father poured out a sense of unity and passion on the new folks for what He’s doing here. It was good to hear. Our trip on this side was amazing; Father led us all the way. I’m really pumped about helping to pioneer a new work in that area next year. Thank you for praying for us; you helped to move the heart of God and bring victory into those areas.
Since that time, we’ve been going strong. Yesterday Vash and I had a goodbye lunch, a team meeting, a prayer meeting, and a goodbye dinner, and then a discipleship meeting. That’s how it goes sometimes. I’m beginning to think a lot about my parents’ living room carpet floor; I think my first week home I’m going to spend hours lying on my back, staring at the slowly turning ceiling fan. Somehow that seems like a fantastic idea.
Lord, give us the grace to finish strong. Anoint us for the tasks we’ve yet to do.