M is for Missions

I grew up with parents who did home missions work.  They took food to the sick, visited the sick and shut ins, took people to the doctor, sat with families when a loved one was having surgery, my dad even did odd jobs for the elderly and sick in the church who could not do it for themselves.  I have seen missionaries in action.....I just called them parents.  Throughout my lifetime I have supported various missionaries....some I knew....some I didn't, housed missionaries home on furloughs to raise their support money, continued to watch my parents work their missionary magic through Experiencing God and Disciple weekends, VBS, and Carpenters for Christ.  I worked four summers with ASP (Appalachain Service Project) and loved it. My parents were devout Baptists and believed in giving each year to Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong.  Even my family was used to seeing the little rice bowls and boxes for the two offerings and knew that spare change went in them because my parents made sure we did.  Kat was taken on a Carpenters for Christ mission trip to Louisville when she was very young and worked for ASP as an employee.  She has always had a heart for missions.  Have you ever had a feeling that your child was called for more?  I have....since she was little.  I knew in my heart that God had great things in store for her.  When she became a special ed. teacher I felt that God had placed her there for a reason.  It takes a special person to do that job.  She is great at it!  I have never seen anyone who loves working with special needs kids like her, even when she achieved the ultimate and got a central office job....her heart longed for the classroom.  She returned to the Children's Center in Montgomery, AL and blossomed as a teacher.  I have never been more proud of anyone than I am of her.  It was while she was at her first assignment in Autauga County that she learned of Phillip Cameron Ministries and Moldova.  A year ago, for her thirtieth birthday, she requested no gifts....just donations to her mission trip in Muldova. She raised a tidy chunk of change and the wheels began turning.  I did not worry....it was just a summer thing.  For a solid year she raised money for she and Brian to undertake this mission.  They left on June 11th and were gone until the 22nd.  I read the posts from their group daily and kept up with their trip....and felt in my heart that this was just a summer thing.  I could even see them doing it every single summer....but once she came back and began blogging (Zambeste) about her trip....I knew this was something more.  I will not lie to you, the mother in me was screaming, "NO!"  The Christian in me was grinning from ear to ear.  The war between the two feelings was leaving me drained and weepy.  All my life I have avoided the bible verse from Acts 1:8 - "8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."  I avoided it because I did not WANT to go to Africa.  I felt like there were enough missions here in the United States that living in Africa, or where there was fighting, was not necessary for me.  Of course back in those days I did not see myself as a preacher's wife and certified lay speaker either.  God does have a sense of humor that is for sure.  Once Kat and Brian came back from Moldova I knew in my heart that they were headed to a mission field of some sort.  Will they return to Moldova?  God is in control of this decision and one thing I will say about the two of them is that they do not react without much thought and prayer going into it.  As a mother, I would love for them to do missions nearby.....as a Christian I am proud of their willingness to follow Acts 1:8.  Moldova is a long way away....but if that is where God sends them....then who am I to shun God's plan for them.  So, on Monday morning, after  a night of fitful sleep I am coming to you and asking that you pray for God's will to be done in their lives.....whether it is in a classroom/office being missionaries during the summer, or full-time missionaries....and while you are at it....will you add a little prayer for me that the mother in me will have peace.