God's Blessings

God calls all of His children to serve Him and He supplies us all with varying gifts.  He calls each of us to proclaim His name, but some feel the call to do so full-time and in other countries.  God never promised that following Him would be easy.  In fact, quite the opposite, He said, “take up your cross and follow Me.”  Regardless of the capacity in which we serve Him, we will encounter struggles along the way.  For a missionary who takes up the charge to minister cross-culturally, I believe that God rewards them with a special kind of blessing for dealing with some of the challenges that accompany the calling.  Just like Laura Story’s song suggests, I believe that His blessings come through raindrops.  There are three particular blessings that I have seen to be a common thread among most missionaries.

A large hurdle that intimidates many cross-cultural workers is support raising.  Nobody wants to be that person asking for money.  Everyone has fears of scaring away their friends because the friend doesn’t want to hear about their need for funds.  It’s an uncomfortable place to be, but what an incredible blessing to see the way that God provides.  Then, when a missionary has reached full support and is living overseas and dependent upon their supporters to continue their ministry, there is a new understanding of stewardship.  God allows the missionary to have a whole new perspective.  When everything that you have has been given to you, you realize that you are merely a steward, not an owner.  When you have a normal job and “earn” your money, you buy the things that you want, you feel the sense of accomplishment and you feel entitlement to the things that you acquire.  As a missionary, you begin to better understand that everything we have is the Lord’s and that He allows us to use His things.

Another challenge that every missionary experiences is moving from one home to another.  Many missionaries don’t even know how to answer when someone asks them where they live or where they are from.  You can say that you have lots of homes, but it can also feel like you don’t have a home at all as you live in a constant state of displacement.  This too is a gift from God and again it is a gift of perspective.  It helps you to understand that you are a citizen, not of this world or any particular part of it, but you are first and foremost a citizen of heaven. 

Missionaries also learn to say a lot of “goodbyes”.  Every assignment, every furlough, and every return to the field comes with them.  There is usually an expectation of a reunion, but not always.  Anybody that has ever lost someone gets to experience this blessing, but missionaries have great opportunity to grasp this one on a deep level.  You learn to appreciate life and its brevity.  Our life is a gift that is only given to us for a season and it is ours to make the most of.  So too, other people’s lives are limited and the time that our life has to overlap with theirs is even more limited.  May God grant us the wisdom and the ability to number our days and to make the most of every encounter.

Being a missionary comes with its challenges, but God blesses His people even through the challenges.  Maybe the trials in this life really are His mercies in disguise.

December 2021

September 2021

July 2021

Pray for Haiti

Many of you have probably heard by now that the President of Haiti was assassinated early on Wednesday morning.  In the wake of this horrific tragedy, here are some of the ways that you can be praying for the nation of Haiti:

• First of all, pray for God's peace on the people here.  The peace that only comes from having the Holy Spirit indwelling in you.
• Pray that there would be a peaceful transition of leadership.  There is currently not a clear successor, due to some unusual circumstances.
• Pray for the new president.  Pray that a godly leader would be appointed and that God would anoint them with wisdom in leading this country well.
• Pray that violence will not break out as a result of the differing political views, the current lack of leadership, or political ambition.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

“Coincidences”

The MAF Haiti Afterhours phone rang.  It was Sunday and we don’t fly on Sundays unless there is a life-threatening situation.  There were two separate people who needed medical evacuations from Cap-Haitien.  HERO, a medical organization that we frequently partner with, was coordinating the details with these people and was requesting our help.  One patient had a stroke and was in critical condition, the other was a young boy with a fever and shakes, but they didn’t know the cause.  For them to get proper treatment, they would need to be taken to Port-au-Prince. 

Our team of pilots began exchanging messages regarding the logistics of making two flights.  Were there enough hours available on the airplanes before their required inspections?  Which pilots were available?  By happy coincidence, we had two airplanes available with just enough time left on each one to make one flight and Andrew Sutton and I were available to fly.  Coincidentally, both airplanes were scheduled to make flights of the same length on Monday and so they both just happened to already have just the right amount of fuel to make the flight.  

By another happy coincidence, I had just replaced a flat tire on one of these airplanes the day before.  I had discovered the flat at the very end of the day on Friday and it was not scheduled to fly before Monday.  It was suggested that I should wait and replace it on Monday, but I had decided to come in on Saturday to get some other things done and replaced the tire while I was there. 

It seemed like a very unusual coincidence that there would be two patients at the same airport at the same time, especially when we typically only get about one request for a medical evacuation per month.  What were the chances of having two on the same day and in the same place?  We asked about sending one airplane to be shared between the patients, but they preferred to have two.  HERO also sends two paramedics with us on each medical flight so that they can attend to the patient during the flight.  For this case, they sent a total of four paramedics, two with each airplane. 

When we arrived in Cap-Haitien, it was immediately apparent that the stroke victim was not doing well.  It was an all-hands-on-deck situation to get her stabilized and intubated in preparation for the flight.  By yet another happy coincidence there were three paramedics available to attend to her while the fourth attended to the boy.  I suppose that “unusual coincidence” of there being two medical evacuations at the same place and the same time turned out to be a good thing, too.  I don’t know how they would have managed with any fewer paramedics.  As it was, both patients made it to Port-au-Prince safely and in stable condition.

In case you’re trying to count up all of the “coincidences” that came together perfectly for this to go so smoothly, I counted no fewer than seven of them.  We had two pilots, two planes, just enough available flight time on each airplane, the right amount of fuel already in the tanks of each airplane,  the tire had been changed early, there were two medical evacuations at the same time, and they were at the same place. 

This story is a good picture of our lives.  God works together all of the little details that are beyond our control.  I didn’t understand why there happened to be two medical evacuations at the same place and at the same time, but I didn’t need to.  God was working in those details to accomplish His good purpose.

May 2021

Psalms 90:17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

For the past couple of weeks, I have been working in the shop doing maintenance items, rather than flying.  I had been getting used to being able to see firsthand the benefits of the work that we do here.  I was regularly meeting people and hearing about the ministry that they were on their way to do or that they were returning from.  It brought a lot of meaning to my work.  Working in the shop, a lot of it is working alone and very often on seemingly insignificant little parts.  

Last week, I was working on some wheel halves.  The wheel had corroded and so I had dismantled the wheel, stripped the paint and was sanding away the corrosion.  The thought occurred to me that it seemed like a very tedious and unimportant job, but that it too was important and that God could use it.  I pictured that wheel back on the airplane and delivering people armed with God’s powerful message of hope to isolated people.  Suddenly, my job got a lot more enjoyable.  Apart from the Lord being in the work, that’s just a piece of metal.  If the Lord is in it, that’s one piece of the puzzle that must come together to accomplish His beautiful work and no more or less important than any other.  My prayer is that the Lord will be in our work and that He will accomplish His will through our labor.

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.