Sparks Ministry

We just returned from a week in North Carolina at Ridgehaven camp.  It was a lovely break from the Texas weather that is hovering around 100 degrees these days!  We were there for one of the pre-field training requirements of Mission to the World (MTW).  All missionaries are required to go through this training before they leave for the field.  We were there with folks going to various countries in Asia, Latin America, and Western Europe.  It is so exciting to hear their stories and learn about what God is doing all over the world!

Another treat was to have my (Dawn’s) parents there for the week to watch Stevie during our sessions.  One of the more difficult aspects of moving overseas is taking Stevie far away from all of his grandparents.  This week gave them a great chance to spend time with him and help him get to know them better.  His other grandparents live in Austin, so he gets to see them fairly often.  What a blessing to have grandparents!

In addition to the encouragement we get by talking to others who are doing the same thing we are and who are experiencing many of the same struggles, we heard some great teaching.  We were reminded again that our salvation is by grace and so is our sanctification.  Our growth in Christ is also dependent on Him.  It is not dependent on how disciplined we are or how hard we work.  The beauty of Christianity is that from start to finish, we can rest on the work of Christ to know that we have pleased God.  When our identity is secure in that, we are freed to take risks and reach out to others.

One of the hardest things about moving to another culture is that you often lose much, if not all, of what you take pride in about yourself.  You may not know how to pay your bills, you are incapable of having the normal, adult level conversations that you are used to, and you often need help to do even the simplest things in the new place.  As you can imagine, this can lead quickly to discouragement!  The message of Living in Grace is that God does not love you less even when you feel like you are not “performing” at the level you should be.  In fact, being secure in God’s love ought to release us to have the humility we need to be learners in our new culture.  It ought to release us from feeling we need to know everything or have it all together in order to minister to others.  The beauty of this is that when we come to others with this kind of humility and weakness, we are much more able to show God’s love to them.

Of course, this is all much easier to say than it is to do!  We will try to remind one another of these lessons when we get into those hard situations – I know we won’t have to wait until Ukraine before we’ll need the reminder!