“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
Seeking first the Kingdom of God can take such different form than we anticipated. It calls us to an exclusivity of commitment (appropriately so, if we we really know Him to be GOD). I’m referring to plans, to expectations, even in the “obvious” and “expectable”. Are we committed to following through our initial understanding of the instructions God gave, or are we committed to the sometimes-shocking “follow Me” that Jesus actually invited us to? Are we committed to following HIM?
We expected to spend a full year with YWAM Perth. Expected to travel not just to India, but to the outback, to Zambia, to Malawi. Expected to “do” so much “more”, to serve so many “more”, to see and experience the fullness of it. This was what God said to do, so here we followed. (But as many of you well know, there is much “more” done in the unseen than in the seen.)
Faithful to His call on our whole family into missions, and beyond the clarity of Mary’s role in Birth Attendant School, He has defined His intentions more specifically to us. We are coming home “early”. Mary is wrapping up BAS this week with report-back to end the first portion of the school, and is stepping out as they proceed into the second phase, including African outreach. It is bittersweet to be with classmates, freshly back from the Kimberley, and process, discuss, remember our last six months of study, practice, travel, and experience… and to know that next week they will move into preparation for Zambia and Malawi. We will purchase tickets back to the States. Thankful is the main word I have for the gift of BAS. For all the challenges it entailed, the gift of being a part of this team of godly midwives standing strong for life in the face of death has been a tremendous privilege. The staff and students are incredible women who bear the grace and strength of Jesus in some of the darkest trenches on earth. It has been a gift.
Mary and the kids will come back to Indiana around the first of February. We will re-enter, rest, recover from a long season of travel and transition, and prepare for the what-next. (Of course, that includes our preparing for a new baby in June!) We do so look forward to seeing you, whom we love, sooner than we expected. We look forward to nestling into a quiet place and processing, and letting God solidify many of the things He has taught us over this time.
Bob will stay in Perth until the end of March, completing the lecture phase of a Discipleship Training School. This will give him 12 weeks to really press into deeper relationship with God (8 weeks with essentially no distraction, after we head back to the States), develop further skills, and seek more specific guidance for what’s next. Call it something of a fast from everything-routine, and an exclusive pursuit of what our family needs more than anything: the strength and wisdom of God.
God has invited our family to spend our full time and focus on global outreach; we fully believe His personal and specific invitations are the best way to spend a life. He is revealing the surprising details of what-that-actually-means-for-us in a very step-by-step fashion. Returning to the States doesn’t change our commitment; it redefines the context. We are confident that our family is not to be living in a cross-cultural setting right now, so we expect to stay in the States at least for a time. We are still in conversation with the agency SIM for the longer-term, concerning the skills needed to support their global outreaches from their home base in Charlotte, NC. We are also praying about our responsibility and response to the refugee crisis, and the opportunity right in our U.S. backyard.
Habiba has chosen to stay in Perth for the immediate future as well, and will do the Young People’s Discipleship Training School. Her time will continue through June as she goes on outreach to Manila, Philippines. See her post for her personal update. It is the goodness of God to let us see Him working in the ones we love and invest in the most.
Please pray for us, friends. There are only a few weeks left here, and a lot to see happen.
PRAISE GOD WITH US FOR
-the privilege of living among a passionate community of His people giving the most energetic years of their lives to knowing God and making Him known.
-the gift of Birth Attendant School for Mary, and all it entailed, as well as the upcoming gifts of time set apart to God for Bob and Habiba.
-safety and health for a crazy family of seven, globe-trotting, eating, and experiencing all sorts of things.
-God’s provision for us, and His faithfulness to meet not only our tangible physical needs, but our deep spiritual, emotional, and relational needs in some really challenging times.
-His Presence behind us and before us; that He is already there, wherever we’re going, and we can trust Him to be the same God we know Him to be… Who He always has been.
-for YOU. There is no way we can walk this road and say “yes” to this call without the faithfulness of Jesus through you, our beloved. Your prayer and encouragement and support and generosity truly make all of this yours, also. We praise God for you, and pray you feel the blessing of obedience just to say “yes” to Him in whatever He offers us each.
PRAY FOR US
-as we prepare to re-enter the States and process our time here.
-as we seek definition of what God has for us to move into and commit our next season to.
-to be faithful to live in light of the things God has taught us, regardless of our context.
-for health in family relationships and to part (for a brief season) in a place of unity of heart and peaceful relationship. For freedom from any anxiety, for protection from the attack of the enemy on our family.
-for good goodbyes to our friends/family here.
-as we trust that all our needs in returning to the States, known and unknown, will be provided.
-for Mary’s health and rest in this pregnancy. It has continued to be quite challenging physically and emotionally (she certainly needs the abundance of grace there is).