Embracing the Uncomfortable – It’s Worth It.

A knot forming in my stomach. A lump lodging in my throat. Anxieties running through my mind. What’s causing these reactions in me?

Ministry partner development. Support raising.

As a missionary, I do not receive a normal salary. I am 100% funded through ministry partners. But like most Americans, I was raised to be independent and self-sufficient. Asking people for help, especially in finances, goes against something ingrained deep inside me. It is hard. It is awkward. It is uncomfortable.

But it’s worth it.

And I have discovered a few reasons why:

• Dependency on God. While independence and self-sufficiency is something America values, God loves when we recognize our need for Him.  If I tried to do ministry in Romania on my own power, I would eventually fail. Instead, I am learning to depend on him before I even leave. As he provides ministry partners, I can become more confident in his faithfulness.
• Glorifying God. Ministry partner development requires me to meet with people, and in doing so I am given the opportunity to share about God. My desire is to glorify God and the work He is doing in the world. It is a privilege to join God’s work, and it is only because of Him I am able to go.
• Connections. This whole process really is about partnership – building a two-way connection. I am sharing about my ministry, but it brings me joy to hear what God is doing in the lives of other people too.
• Provision. It is ultimately God who provides – and He does so in ways greater than I could imagine. He knows exactly who will join me and how much will be provided. He provides the finances. He provides the encouragement. He provides connections from different seasons of my life. I am continually in awe of how God has already provided, and I trust he will faithfully continue to do so.

This is the uncomfortable God has asked me to embrace because it’s worth it. It might look different for you, but what is the uncomfortable thing God is asking you to step into? Be encouraged – if he has asked you to do it, he will faithfully bring you through.

Heart of the Missionary

 "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." [2 Chronicles 16:9]

When I first considered going back to Romania long term, my Romanian pastor Raul referenced this verse. He wanted to confirm that my heart was for the Lord and for Romania.

After four weeks of cross-cultural long-term missionary training, the heart remains the most important thing when it comes to being effective, no matter where we go. Training, knowledge and experience, while a good thing, are nothing without the right heart.

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Heart for Culture

God created unique cultures around the world. Every culture often represents God in its own way and when we experience different cultures we often walk away with a bigger picture of who God is. However, because we are so familiar with our own culture, it is easy to judge other cultures and the ways they do life. Therefore it is important to have a heart for culture - to die to our own culture and value what we can learn from other cultures.

Heart for People

This may seem obvious, but it is not as simple as we may want it to be. Most of us as Americans are task-oriented. We like to see results and accomplish big things. Again, being driven toward a certain goal is not a bad thing but majority of the world cultures value relationships over the task. We must be willing to lay down our go-go-go and do-do-do mentality in order to love people and build relationships.

Heart for your Team

You may have heard the African proverb "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." We were designed for community and to work together. Without a solid team it would be hard to be effective and even to survive in another culture for long. However, to have a solid team everyone must have a humble heart and listening ear. It is important to value and love your team.

Heart of the Gospel

It is easy to think "Those people or this country need the gospel so much!" but I heard this statement during the first week of training and it stuck: "You can never preach the gospel to someone who needs it more than you do." No matter how long we have been walking with God, we need the gospel every day. Even if I am going to be a missionary, I am still a broken sinful person. I fall into pride and idolatry. I make mistakes. But the heart of the gospel is God knew all this about me and he still loved me and he chose me. Now I have to daily walk in the truth that my acceptance, my identity and my satisfaction is found in God alone. As I remember the gospel each day, it is a reminder of the goal of the missionary as well: "For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake." [2 Corinthians 4:5] I have to daily humble myself in order that God would be glorified.

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I titled this heart of the missionary, but be reminded that we are all called to be missionaries where we are. I pray God would shape our hearts in humility to be more like Jesus each day.