Field Missionary

As I was leaving my house to go back to work after lunch, I noticed a flower in the middle of the grass.  I stopped and looked at it closer because it wasn’t in a flower garden area, but in the middle of the grass.  I showed it to the McCoys and they said they had been cleaning out some of their flower pots and threw some of the bulbs on the ground, and one of them apparently bloomed. As a missionary it is good if you are able to bloom where you are planted.  At times you can feel like a discarded bulb – like you are just thrown out and that you don’t matter because no one back home keeps in touch with what you are doing, or you can feel that you are in a new place without the comforts of “home” to help you grow and thrive.  Despite the challenges, part of being a missionary is to learn to make do in your new environment, your new home with the resources available to you, different as they maybe from what you once knew, if you are going to survive. It has been almost 8 years since I first came to PNG.  At times I have definitely felt forgotten and discarded and alone, but I thank God that I have learned how to adapt to the resources, the people and the culture and have been able to survive and thrive here.  I am thankful for the chance…
Source: Blooming where planted from Erin Meier – Asia Pacific

There are not enough words to describe to you all that God is doing and teaching me. These past months have been full of challenges and opportunities, in all areas of my life. Still, my constant prayer continues to be, “God, your will be done..”. That’s a pretty intense prayer. That’s a prayer that means I have to trust. Completely. No matter what, it’s always a choice to trust. I can’t see what’s before me, but I do know who goes before me… and I know my God is good, constant, full of love and amazing grace. These first half of the year has been very intense! Full of youth events, meetings, conferences and there was an interesting question that kept coming up. I was asked by many leaders, “what’s your vision for this new ministry you’re heading up? what’s your big dream?”  But who am I to dream without God? There is nothing that I desire to do without God leading the way. Yup, every single step and detail. There is nothing that I desire more that to God to be constantly present; in words, actions but especially my dreams.  My vision is that God’s Kingdom may come, just as it is in heaven! You know what that means? I’m requesting A LOT of Jesus presence. Everywhere and all the time. The kind of Jesus presence that shakes up things. The really good kind of shaking. The kind where you speak truth into people lives.. without even speaking. The kind of Jesus…
Source: Thy will be done. from Liliana Reza – South America

A patient came in today complaining of swelling of her abdomen.  I have seen 100s of patients with liver cancer here and expected it to be the same thing.  When I took her to ultrasound, I was greeted by something I had never seen before.   Not only did the swelling look much different than other liver masses I had seen, it also seemed to be smiling at me.  I don’t know why the mass was smiling, but it made me smile seeing it smile.  Hopefully the smile is a good thing, maybe it is telling us it isn’t cancer and this women has a good chance to make it, or maybe it is saying that even when things are bad, we can still smile. I see a lot of bad things each day; cancer, abortions, AIDS, TB, infections so bad people won’t walk again, car accidents injuries, head injuries from falls, depression, domestic violence and death, lots of death.  Hoping I can remember to smile through it all and help the patients smile too despite their pain and hurting.
Source: Smiling at us from Erin Meier – Asia Pacific