Field Missionary

1 Stubel village church in the final stages of completion
4 days in Stubel spent preparing for
6 Work & Witness members coming to spend
6 days in the village of Stubel to paint, tile, etc. while I lead
4 days of youth camp with
25+ kids from ages 4 to 15
3 life-changing sessions of prayer
5.5 days without water
4 team members with diahrrea
4 showers in 10 days – 1 made useless by                                                                   1 grass fire that attempted to set the pastor’s house on fire                                         1 hour of panic hauling water and stamping out fire                                                    25 kids + me tired, happy, and changed                                                                         1 very happy pastor and an almost completed building

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God showed up on Wednesday, May 16th in Madrid, Spain. I know this because he showed up to talk to me. I think it would have been interesting if someone had been around to witness this, and if they’d been able to take a picture of me and God. Here’s what I think they would have seen: You know when your child is being particularly head-strong, not listening, and you have to literally kneel down and get on their level…you have to get nose-to-nose and eye-to-eye with them. This is the only way you can get their full, undivided attention. I think if someone had taken a picture that day, that’s what they would have captured. They would have seen me, the know-it-all kid, and God, the wise and faithful parent…Me with my arms folded across my chest, my pouty lip stuck out…and God, always gracious, on his knees in front of me, nose-to-nose and eye-to-eye with His child. 

Why did He have to get my attention this way? What was going on? I was having one of those days…okay, maybe one of those months. I was feeling down, defeated, alone…the grown up version of a little kid crying because their ice cream melted or their little brother colored on their fresh sheet of paper. You see, we’re working on projects and working with churches and working with theological education and the list goes on and on. The kids are in school and we make four trips a day on foot between home and the school…and it gets old. The horns outside the window were blaring because there was yet another traffic jam on the street. The internet wouldn’t work. We had called the internet repair guy, and it still didn’t work. It was just one of those days, and our thoughts and conversations had led us to the Illescas Project. God is opening doors for ministry in Illescas, we know it. We are excited about it. We are doing everything we can to get there so that we can minister full time in Illescas. And I felt defeated. Question after question ran through my mind. But the biggest one was this: "How will this ever work if we can’t afford to make it happen?" Money. We can say whatever we want about God providing for our needs….and it would be true. God always provides for our NEEDS. Not our wants. What I WANT is to move to Illescas at the end of June. What I WANT is to have enough funds to cover the ministry expenses. What I WANT is not to worry. But that’s not how God works. He provides for our needs. 

So, it was at that moment that I opened a Facebook message from a friend back in the USA. In that email we were told that there was financial support coming our way for ministry. When I got online to check our deputation funds, there it was. New support. An unexpected blessing. God provided…and that’s the moment He showed up.

He knelt down and got on my level. He made eye contact with me and we were nose-to-nose. He held my face in his hands, got my attention, and this is what he said, "Therefore do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear….Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?…Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:25-34)

God had provided…He did not provide what I WANTED…if He had done that, we’d have the Illescas Project funded for the next few years! But doesn’t He know better? God provided what I NEEDED, even though I wasn’t even aware of my needs at the time. I needed to know that our ministry and family would be taken care of, that we were moving in the right direction. I needed to know that God was listening. Isn’t it awesome how God works? He used this friend in the USA who had been obedient to His leading. He used her in His perfect timing. She didn’t know how I was feeling. She didn’t know when her support would reach us. She didn’t know that God was going to use her to speak to me. God took her gift, her obedience, and used it to get my attention, to get on my level…eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose…God showed up. God showed us in a very real way that He is going to provide for our NEEDS and it will all be in His timing. Aren’t we blessed to have a Heavenly Father who loves us enough to get our attention? He had to get in my face in order for me to stop and hear what he had to tell me. Are you listening today? God wants to show up in your life, too. 

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I would be lying if I said that each time I walk the children to school there isn’t something that catches my eye. I have to look twice, and as I continue walking, I think to myself, “I wonder if I will ever get used to this.” There are still things that drive me crazy, but others things are now just a normal part of everyday life. As a pessimist, I am always looking for something that makes me roll my eyes. As a learner, I am always looking for something that will enhance my understanding of Spanish culture. As a humorist, I am always looking for something that makes me snicker. But every once in a while, there is something that leaves me genuinely surprised.

As I was walking back home from the children’s school, I saw a young man running out of his apartment building, as if late for work. But as he exited the building, he paused for a second to cross himself, publicly expressing his Catholic faith. Now, why would a Protestant (Nazarene) missionary be surprised, and ultimately impressed, with this demonstration? I’m glad you asked. You would think that in a country that demographically claims to be 94% Catholic this would be a norm. I can assure you it is not. You would think that in a country with a rich religious heritage that public professions of faith would be commonplace. You’d be mistaken. You would think that in a culture that encourages self expression and voicing one’s opinions in a public forum that one would never shy away from a quick prayer or expression of faith. It’s actually extremely rare.

The truth is, that morning, I was feeling a little down…running on empty, spiritually…frustrated by the difficult task at hand. I wasn’t looking for anything. And out he came. I was surprised that he was so young. I was surprised that this was how he greeted the day, even while in a hurry. And I was surprised that I was surprised by this. I realized then that I was in need of this public demonstration of faith. As a Protestant, this Catholic young man was a brother in Christ. But family is getting a bit hard to find here. I needed that moment to be divinely reminded that like Elijah, although sometimes I feel alone, I’m not. Witnessing this rare event helped me realize that there is a remnant, and amazingly, my walk back home was a little lighter.

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