On The Edge of Exhaustion…God Shows Up

It was the busiest Sunday we had had for many weeks.  Ruth and I each shared with Sunday School classes, Ernie (and I) did the Children’s Story, Ruth taught Children’s Church, and I had the message time during the morning worship. It was also a time of reflecting of how God had used this church in our lives and ministry, right from the beginning. How thrilling to look out at the congregation and see the Nations including believers from Liberia and the Philippines…which is part of the theme of Revelation 5 from which I shared. Part of my challenge was the encouragement to be alert for “Lion sightings”—seeing God at work in every aspect of life.

Following the morning activities, a group of us ate lunch together and more than 15 leaders stayed to get orientation on the CrossTalk children's tract we brought from Uganda.  One participant, a young mother commented how she remembered my puppet as a child and was delighted that her young son had now also met Ernie.  Due to several situations, our demonstration of how to use the CrossTalk seemed so brief and simple that we wondered if it was worth the time of those who attended.  However, as we were finishing up, this same mother came forward with her young son.  He held up his CrossTalk with a smile and exclaimed “I prayed this prayer.”  Upon further inquiry, it seems indeed that this young boy had been listening to the presentation and had trusted Jesus alone as His Saviour. Praise God for this special “Lion sighting”!

Open My Eyes….

Without commenting on my missionary aunt’s quip “God looks after fools and missionaries,” I did “see” God’s special care these past weeks with regard to my eye glasses.  Somehow, to my chagrin, while several hours drive away from home, I managed to lose one lens from my glasses.  This put me in an awkward place being the main driver of the vehicle we are using.  Since my Mother and sister were with me at the time of the lost lens, they each offered their glasses to me to see if either pair would work for me.  To my surprise, my sister’s glasses allowed me to drive home. But once we were home, she needed her glasses to drive…and God knew all about that too. My sister had an extra pair and knew exactly where they were, and so I was able to borrow her second pair until I got a replacement!  These borrowed glasses are such a blessing enabling me to function pretty well normal. The next concern…getting an appointment could take time, not to mention getting new glasses made and delivered within a fairly short time (we depart from New Brunswick in less than 2 weeks). Once again, God went before me. I got an appointment this morning, and discovered my current prescription needs to be changed.  So God allowed the lost lens so that I could get the needed new glasses which are scheduled to arrive before we return to Africa.  Thank You to our great God and His detailed care for each of us.

THE RIPPLES OF HELPING OTHERS

Opportunities to help others are always around us; in fact, often there are so many needs that it is impossible to respond to all of them. In some ways, when we choose to help others, especially those we don’t know well, we take a risk that the person may misuse our help and perhaps totally fail to accomplish what you try to help them to do…but when you’re sure God is asking you to help, you are willing to take that risk. To offset that, sometimes the help you give multiplies far beyond what you might have wished!

This truth was highlighted for me this past week as we met a “retired” couple who have spent two short term missions in Kenya. During their first stint they met Beth, the Ugandan that has been such a huge help to us. She was studying at the time in Kenya but soon after that, all Ugandan students had to leave Kenya. Through this couple, Beth was helped to apply and gather funds to study at Wheaton Graduate School.
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Fast forward to 2013 when we first met Beth. You can imagine the surprise, especially for Laura, when she learned that Beth studied at Wheaton —Laura also benefited from the same program—and that she had been in New Brunswick to visit her friends, whom she refers to as family! Following Beth's program at Wheaton, she served as the Scripture Union Director for Uganda, then the Children’s Ministry Coordinator for Scripture Union East Africa, and now Beth serves as a missionary of Scripture Union Uganda to South Sudan and Ethiopia…partly because a Canadian couple dared to take a risk and help. But the ripples continue on—the VOICE Africa ministry has been and continues to be greatly helped by our partnership with Beth.

When we were preparing to return to North America for this Mid-Term deputation, Beth strongly suggested we visit her Moncton “family” and gave us a note to deliver to them. Praise God, we had the privilege of meeting them. What a joy to be able to thank them for their part in Beth’s life and to share some of how that has been a huge benefit to us. May God help us to take such risks as others share needs and opportunities with us!