Home Comforts -- Number One: Feeding

In 2014, when we come home on furlough, what I am most looking forward to is a good feed.

“But didn’t you already cover that in number five?!” the masses cry. In one important sense, yes. But what Amanda and I both crave this year is the infinitely more satisfying sustenance of the word of God.

Church work, whether at home or abroad, can be hugely demanding on body, mind and soul. Church ministry that God blesses will inevitably involve people – and we all know how much less complicated this life would be were it not for people.

Having not yet been involved in full-time Christian ministry in a Western setting, I can’t speak to those circumstances. But I know enough about our Western psyches, particularly in Britain, where seeking the help of another is often seen as a sign of weakness and, depending on the circumstances, somewhat ill-mannered. Not so here in Bolivia. People, refreshingly, have no qualms about coming to us as missionaries in their hour of need and asking for our assistance. At times the sacrifices are material. But sacrifices of time and energy are required in greater measure.

And spiritually, we are in ‘giving mode’ for most of the week. A lot of my weeks are taken up with preparing sermons. Amanda disciples a couple of young women whom she meets with every week. She is also heavily involved in running the youth group, where I also lend a hand. And though I'm far from comfortable with the idea, I’ve sort of become the unofficial music director at church. So when Sunday, the day when most of us receive a ‘good feed’, comes around, we are always doing the feeding ourselves, in some capacity. It has been our joy and our privilege to have been at the front line in the Lord’s work here. But, boy, do we need a break.

We need to come back here in early 2015 with renewed energies and a renewed imbuing of the word of God in our lives, or we simply will not be able to go on. So we’re tremendously excited about what the Lord has lined up for us in the year ahead. I’m immensely looking forward to the daily instruction of men who rightly divide the word of truth at Cornhill Scotland. Amanda is equally thrilled to have the opportunity to delve deeper into Scripture via her Certificate in Christian Studies with St John’s, Nottingham. So many of the deep friendships I alluded to yesterday are tremendous channels for mutual encouragement along the narrow way. And, though we will look to get involved in church where possible, we’re naturally looking forward to those Sundays (and midweek meetings, of course) when we can be enriched by the ministry of others.

Meanwhile, back in Bolivia, there’s a potentially positive upshot to all of this too. The missionary presence here will be drastically reduced next year, with the Lord having called our fellow workers Kenny & Claudia Holt back to Scotland. In many respects, the coming year will be a case of ‘sink or swim’ for our church. Missionary dependence, so often the default mode here, will not be an option. Yet what an opportunity for growth and maturity in the local church. Regular readers will know we have been greatly encouraged by several developments in the past few months. We see great potential in several young men and women here. So, while we, as missionaries, certainly expect to continue in the ministry of ‘feeding’ upon our return, how wonderful it would be to be nourished with a little bit more regularity by our dear brothers and sisters here in Trinidad.

Therefore, as prayerful as we know you will be for Amanda and I in 2014, please uphold our dear brothers and sisters at El Jireh church in your daily petitions.