09292018 How and When

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings, sisters. I trust that God is giving you strength for each day and wisdom for each task. Unlike our frailty, His resources are unlimited.

Galatians 6:9 states, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

I'm sure you know about being weary. Your weeks are filled with church services, visitation, counseling, outreach, and making contacts. You have correspondence, cleaning of the church facility, preparation of teaching materials, and dozens of other jobs necessary to the functioning of your ministry. Then there are cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, errands, home schooling, and all the other home duties.

The busyness can be challenging even when it yields evident rewards. When results are less apparent, those tasks can become burdensome. It is tempting to cry out, whether in sincerity or in desperation, "God, where are the answers? You said there would be a harvest, and I don't see it. When and how will You show the results?"

The apostle Paul (who authored the above verse, by the way) was a busy man, always teaching, traveling, training, and preaching. He knew what it was like to be weary. We read about his results in the Bible, and we know that wonderful things happened through his ministry, but Paul didn't know all those things ahead of time.

When he started out, he just faithfully preached the gospel wherever he went. Often he was driven out of town by the Jews. He faced angry mobs. He was beaten, thrown into prison, stoned and left for dead. Numerous plots were made against his life, and more than once he made nighttime escapes. If Paul had become weary, however, in well doing when he faced the opposition in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, he never would have continued to Derbe. If he had given up in despair after Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, he would not have continued to Corinth and Ephesus. Paul did not know when he arrived in a city if he would be welcomed or rejected, if a church would be started or not, or even if there would be any visible results at all (Athens). He kept faithfully on, and God brought the harvest.

Paul shared God's truth with all kinds of people. He did not know who would reject the gospel and who would accept it. Certainly, many people rejected, but that did not stop him from proclaiming the truth once again. He shared the gospel with lowly people like a lame man, a slave girl, and natives on an island. He shared the gospel with common people like a cloth seller, a jailer, the soldiers who guarded him, and the curious visitors who came to see him. He shared the gospel with religious leaders, even leaders of the synagogue. He shared the gospel with important men like a proconsul, governors, and even a king. Some of those people rejected, but if those rejections had stopped Paul, many others would not had heard the gospel.

Paul worked with many other servants of God and trained many men for the ministry. He didn't know who would stick with it and who would quit. He didn't know which would become valuable co-workers, trusted pastors, or esteemed friends. Early on Paul must have been very disheartened by the departure of John Mark, but that didn't stop him from working with Timothy, Titus, and Tychicus. Later the departure of Demas must have been painful, but that didn't keep Paul from working alongside Luke, Epaphras, Apollos, and Aristarchus. Paul didn't even know that John Mark would later come back. In spite of the disappointments, he just kept pouring his life into people, and God gave the increase.

Faith is all about continuing to trust and follow God even when (or especially when) we don't see results. Abraham and many others never saw results. "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off" (Hebrews 11:13). Overall, the prophets' message was rejected. "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?" (Acts 7:42). Yet God was faithful to Abraham and those other servants. God did what He said He would do, and God blessed the ministries of those men. God did His work through them, whether they saw it or not.

How and when God gives the harvest is up to Him. We must trust God through the seeming fruitlessness. We must keep following Him through the disappointments, and we must keep serving Him through the setbacks and dry times. God says that His Word will not return void. He says that He is drawing men to Himself. He says that He wants all men to be saved. He says He wants to use us in His service. Our job is to be faithful - to continue on in spite of the challenges. God's job is to bring the results, and He will!

Your service of presenting the Word to needy people and all the auxiliary activity required to make that happen is important. What you do today matters for eternity. You might not see the results now, and you might never see many results on this earth, but God is doing His work through you. Don't be weary. Trust God for the results in the timing and method that He chooses.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com

09212018 The Departure

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings, my sisters.

I've shared some of my story with you about how God led me to the mission field. If you've been left wondering how and why I left, today is your lucky day!

I was in Mexico for three and a half years. I taught children in an MK school, where the parents were either working in the city or were there temporarily to attend language school. I also helped in a local church, directing the children's ministry, helping with the youth, assisting with visitation, etc.

From a purely human standpoint, my years in Mexico would be described as a "bad experience." There were aspects I enjoyed, and I'm very glad I served God there for those years, but it was also very difficult. I think the hardest part was being there on my own. As a single person, I was especially lonely. In part due to my upbringing, I probably wasn't equipped to handle that well. It is also likely that my struggle was complicated by medical issues that would be identified years later.

One aspect of why I left was simply that I couldn't do it anymore. Not a very spiritual reason. Wasn't God enough for me? Wasn't His grace sufficient? Obviously, there was no problem with God. The problem was with me. There were times that I was fine, and then would come times of great struggle. More than once, God gave encouragement and help. He would give a breakthrough and renewed commitment to stay.

Eventually, though, I reached the point where I think I stayed only so that I wouldn't have to admit defeat. I realized there was an inherently negative impression when missionaries left the field. Even as a younger person, my judgmental spirit told me those people had given up and failed God, and that it was very sad. I proudly thought that I would never leave - that I would stay no matter what. I was determined not to be "a statistic," but I wasn't strong enough. While I don't fully comprehend how God's sovereignty and man's weakness work together, I do know that God was in that change in my life. However those pieces interact, it wasn't God's intent for me to be a life-long foreign missionary.

God had me there for as long as He needed in order to accomplish what He needed to accomplish in and through me. Maybe I needed that experience to prepare me for later service. Maybe I needed to learn my own inadequacy. Maybe God wanted to test the willingness of my heart to obey Him. Maybe I needed to grow in maturity through what those years brought to me. Maybe God needed to completely break me so that He could make me more like Him. Maybe God wanted me to grow in my submission by seeing if I would yield the pain and choose to serve Him again. I believe each of those statements contains truth.

My loving and compassionate God cares for His children. At the time, I believed that God understood my struggles and that He "gave me permission" to go home. I wouldn't use those exact words anymore, but I do know that God understood my situation. He knew my heart and my desire to serve Him, but He also knew all the other factors, including the emotional struggle. With His kind heart, God responded to that, and in His wisdom, He even used those factors as part of His guidance.

In the end, God directed the change in my life. He directly intervened to send me home, because I don't know how long I would have stubbornly stayed there struggling if He hadn't. At that time, missionaries to Mexico typically entered on a tourist visa, which was good for six months at a time. Every six months we would drive to the border and re-enter. Then the authorities started more stringent tracking and enforcement of tourist visas. Out of necessity, missionaries started to convert to a more long-term visa.

This required significant paperwork and an invitation from a registered church. The church I was working in qualified, and in spite of my deep struggle in remaining, I worked to gather the required documents. When I went to Mexico City to present my paperwork, I learned that the signatures of my church's representatives were invalid, as they did not match the names the government had on file. Due to a past church split, the approved men were long gone, and an attempt to track them down for signatures failed. I could have pressed on and tried to start the process under another church, but all things considered, this appeared to be God's way of sending me home.

It was very hard to make the decision to leave. In many ways, it is easy to go to a place of service. Everyone approves and views it as a positive thing. People can even go to the mission field for the wrong reasons, and probably are not questioned. But to leave - that's different. Leaving a place of service requires certainty that God is in it. Otherwise, one would not be able to face the perceived criticism of others or his own attacks of guilt and failure.

What God did in my life will not match the story of other people, but I do know that God was in control. I do know that God is in charge of government officials and regulations. He oversees spouses and children and co-workers and mission directors. He is in charge of health and accidents and political situations. He even has a hand in our personalities. God uses all of those things and more to accomplish His plan in our lives, whether or not anyone else understands. In fact, whether or not we even understand personally.

"The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand" (Isaiah 14:24).

Did my service in Mexico matter? Yes, it mattered. Does your service matter? Yes, what you do today matters for eternity. The specific task and even location may not always look the same, but for however long God has you doing each task, it will matter. Trust Him to use you in His plan and for His glory.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com

09152018 Gladys Aylward

Dear Missionary Lady,

This week I read a biography of Gladys Aylward, missionary from England to China from 1930 to 1970. I thought you might be interested in and encouraged by my reflections on her story.

She was too small. Only five feet tall, she was later called "the small woman" and "the little woman."

She was too uneducated. She left school at age 14 to begin working. When she later started missionary training school, she was quickly dismissed because she was failing her classes.

She was too untrained. Her preparation for mission work was brief, mostly unstructured and unsupervised. She had very little formal training. She worked for a short time with girls living on the streets and did some street preaching, but her primary experience was as a housekeeper.

She was too old. She was not called to be a missionary until she was 25. She was particularly considered too old to be able to learn the difficult Chinese language. She was 28 when she left for China.

She was too single. She had no husband to guide her, to direct her missionary activity, to share in the labors, or to carry out the preaching and leadership roles. The book I read didn't reveal any marital prospects or even hints of a relationship.

She was too poor. She left for China with only 9 pennies and 2 pounds (British money). She had absolutely no means of income or support. Her only real "resource" was her train ticket. She had no money to keep the mission going after her coworker died.

She was too unprepared and naive. Until 3 months before she left, she didn't even know what part of China she would travel to. She did not have good travel plans. Against warnings, she chose a travel route  that took her into a war zone where travel was suspended. She took basically no possessions and little clothing. Her complete baggage consisted of two suitcases. She did not have enough language skills to allow her to travel well or get to her destination safely.

She was too unconnected. She had no mission board or supporting agency. No one gave her any guidance on how to get to the field or how to minister. Her only link to China was a letter from a missionary lady she had never met, and when Gladys arrived, that lady was far removed from where she had said she would be.

She was too un-received. On her first day at the mission station, she took a walk, and the villagers threw mud at her and laughed. She and her coworker couldn't get anyone to listen to the Bible or even talk to them. They struggled to find any way to share the gospel with the Chinese people who were so afraid of foreigners.

She was too alone. Her coworker died not too long after Gladys's arrival, and there were no other missionaries and very few Christians - maybe only one at the time. She had huge responsibilities and various areas of ministry, including caring for eventually almost 200 orphans.

She was too risky. On her journey to China, she could have died walking 30 miles in a snowstorm. Because of her poor planning, resources, and language skills, she was briefly jailed in a train station. She was trapped in a hotel in Russia, closely guarded, and nearly impressed into war-time service in a factory. She later risked offending a very important man by failing to make an expected visit to him, and she dangerously served as a spy for a Chinese general.

She was too sickly. After a head injury and a long, grueling trip to rescue a group of orphans, her health was seriously compromised. With four simultaneous serious conditions, she spent two weeks in a coma and never fully recovered her health.

She was too unsafe. She lived in a remote area, which later became part of a war zone. The Japanese army put a price on her head, making even association with her potentially dangerous. She went on a lengthy and treacherous journey over mountain trails with 94 children and no adult helpers, with the constant threat of the Japanese army who would have killed her and probably the children.

In spite of all those liabilities, Gladys had one very important qualification. She was willing. When she was trying to earn money to get to China, she placed her limited assets before God and prayed, "Here is my Bible. Here is all the money I have. Here is me. Find some way to use me, God."

Gladys did what needed to be done. For a while her primary "missionary" job was scraping mud from the legs of mules. She served as a foot inspector (when a law was passed against foot binding). She helped prisoners. She traveled frequently to surrounding villages. She cared for many orphans. She served refugees and lepers. Always she used these various facets of responsibility to share the gospel. Gladys suffered much hardship and deprivation through poverty and through war conditions. She served alone for many years, but she was faithful, even at the point of physical collapse.

God did not consider Gladys unworthy of His work. He did great things through her. As a result of her ministry, many mule drivers carried Bible stories into the surrounding area. Churches were started in most of the villages around her. Orphans were cared for, taught about God, and ultimately rescued from the war dangers through Gladys's efforts. Prisoners were saved; Gladys worked to improve their physical conditions, but had a more important impact on their spiritual conditions.

After 10 years of Gladys's ministry, the most important man in the area honored her at a feast, and said, "I have seen all that you are and all that you do, and I would like to become a Christian like you." A group of 500 Tibetan monks had received a tract that included John 3:16. They waited 3 years for someone to tell them about God, and Gladys was that person. She worked with university students, many of whom were saved. During the Communist takeover, 40% of the total student population was martyred because of their faith. As Gladys watched the mass execution, she prayed for them what she had previously prayed for herself, "If they must die, let them not be afraid of death, but let there be a meaning, O God, in their dying."

Without doubt, Gladys arrived in heaven to hear these words: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord" (Matthew 25:21).

Just as with Gladys, what you do today matters for eternity. Keep doing it faithfully, and God will give the increase.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com

09082018 Be Still

Dear Missionary Lady,

I continue to pray for you, and I hope you've had a good week. There is probably never a week when everything goes well, but there's also probably a never a week when everything goes wrong. (Although sometimes the latter seems true!) It is a blessing to be able to reflect on the good things God did: the answers to prayer, the provisions, the demonstrations of His love, the special times in the Word, the right thing said at the right time, and so on. I trust that you had some of those blessings this week.

Today I want to share a hymn that has been special to me over the years because it is packed with so much reassuring truth.

BE STILL, MY SOUL

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain,
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

This first stanza really focuses on how God uses every situation for good. When hard things happen, God has not forsaken us. He is right there with us, and He is accomplishing divine purposes. We can endure in those situations when we remember that He is doing His maturing work in us. We are never abandoned in these situations. God is not going anywhere. The One who loves us like no other will accomplish His best purposes, even through things that look utterly hopeless and wholly negative to us. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake

To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

The second stanza is a wonderful reassurance that God has not changed and His power has not diminished. God has handled every single situation in the history of the world so far. That isn't going to change now. No situation is ever going to arise that is too difficult for Him to handle. I love those last two lines - the reminder of how Jesus calmed the storm that had left the disciples in fear for their lives. All it took was a word from His mouth. That same powerful God is with us today. He can still accomplish amazing things and can deliver when there seems to be no help in sight. The storm may look dark now, but He will break through the darkness. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on

When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

The third stanza reminds us of our blessed hope. Every day brings us closer to the time that we will be united with God in heaven forever. In a single moment, every trial of life will be forgotten; those difficulties will be completely inconsequential, swallowed up by the glories of heaven. There will be no more heartaches, no more tears, no more struggles, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more unmanageable situations. All will be joy and peace. That day is coming. It is coming soon. Until then, we can rest in the care of the One who will make all things right. "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).

Until then, just continue faithfully day by day. What you do today matters for eternity, so every day that God has you remain where you are is a day that He is using you in His work. He is doing something in you and through you. Never doubt that. Lean on our powerful, wise, and loving God for all that you need, and He will uphold and help you. Take care.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com

09012018 Walking Disasters

Dear Missionary Lady,

God is good. Isn't He? So much of His goodness surrounds us every day, found in His provision for us, found in our families, and found in the blessings of life. It is found in the beauties of the earth: sunshine, rain, flowers, birds, stars. It is found in spiritual blessings: answered prayer, wisdom, salvation, grace, forgiveness.

God's goodness is also found in His blessing of our ministries, and it is this aspect that fills my thoughts at the moment. Hasn't God done some amazing things that He has allowed you to see as you have ministered for Him? People who seemed hopelessly trapped in sin - now rescued and redeemed. Displays of bold faithfulness and unwavering devotion to God in spite of opposition. Christians strengthened and grounded in their faith. Churches built and strengthened. The spread of the Gospel into new areas.

How does God do such amazing things through us? How can such frail mortals have any part in such divinely meaningful work? If I were choosing someone to make a difference for God, I wouldn't choose me. Would you choose you?

I guess there are times in life when I could reflect on my training and experiences, when I could consider the growth and victories God has given me, and if I decided to think highly of myself, I could conclude that maybe I have something valuable to offer God. Much of the time, however, I feel like a walking disaster. I am aware of my struggles, challenges, failures, and inadequacies, and it seems highly unlikely that God could do anything profitable through me.

Wouldn't God need someone incredible like the apostle Paul to do His work? Yet Paul declared, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24). He testified, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15). He shared, "For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle" (1 Corinthians 15:9). And in words that would seem to disqualify him from service, he confessed, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not" (Romans 7:18).

If Paul was so unqualified, and if Paul struggled so much, what hope is there for any of us? Thankfully, the hope is not found in us any more than it was found in Paul. The hope is in the power and grace of God. It was only God's grace that made Paul what he was (1 Corinthians 15:10), and it was only God's grace that allowed Paul to serve God. "God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace" (Galatians 1:15).

Paul wasn't the only "walking disaster" that God used. Noah became drunk with disastrous effect on his family, yet God used him as a preacher of righteousness. Job despaired of life and by his own admission spoke words he shouldn't have spoken, yet the Bible upholds him as an example of endurance. Abraham is a hero of faith, yet his wavering faith led to lies and manipulation. Jacob schemed and deceived, but God made him a prince and patriarch. Moses wrote much of the Bible and was God's chosen leader in a crucial aspect of divine history, but he murdered and gave excuses and disobeyed. Gideon was filled with fear and inadequacy, and Samson had serious issues with women, but God used both to deliver His people. Both Eli and Samuel failed miserably with their own children, yet God gave them very important roles in His service. David's adultery and murder are appalling to us, but there is no doubt that God valued and used him tremendously. Both Hezekiah and Josiah were instrumental in phenomenal revivals in Israel's history, yet both had failures in their interactions with foreign kings. Elijah and Jeremiah, incredible prophets of God, struggled with discouragement and despair. Peter, one of the most respected leaders of the early church, had some glaring failures in the words that came out of his mouth.

Every person in history that has ever been used by God has had failures. Not a single person has ever been adequate in himself. If God required perfect servants to do His work, He wouldn't find any. We could in a sense "feel sorry" for God. We could wonder how He can ever manage to do His work when we frail humans are the instruments He has to work through. It would seem that our weakness would make His job so difficult. Certainly, there are times that we get in the way and inadvertently do damage, but that should not be our focus.

The great wonder in this whole consideration is the power and wisdom of God. He knows very well what He has to work with, and He is able to use simple, stumbling people like us to accomplish His divine work that is far beyond our ability to achieve. Our limitations don't limit God. God is so powerful, so wise, and so good. Because God is able to do divinely significant work through such broken instruments, all the glory goes to Him. "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (2 Corinthians 4:7).

What you do today matters for eternity, not because of your own merits, but because a wise and powerful God chooses to pour out His grace on you and because He determines to work through you. Keep being a willing vessel in His hands.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com