How has waiting during COVID-19 helped prepare you to work overseas?

Our timeline to head overseas, like many of our friends and co-workers, is completely up in the air right now. It is, at least in part, due to things completely outside of our control. And while I can’t say that I love waiting with no clear path forward, I can see how our good Father is revealing to me some things that needed to be worked on in my heart.

What is my identity grounded in? Where does my hope come from? These are questions I’ve had to wrestle with the past couple of months that have impacted my relationship with the Lord. After my husband and I both quit our jobs in order to raise support full-time, the question you get when you first meet someone, “so what do you do?” became a complicated one for me! Instead of confidently asserting, “I’m a student” or “I’m a teacher,” I get to say, “We’re preparing to move overseas long-term with no clear timeline.” In our Western culture, this has been difficult for me. I feel like I should be doing more, working a full-time job, earning my way, etc. The fear of man has reared its ugly head many times in my heart.

God’s word, especially the book of Hebrews, has been a source of life and hope for me in this season of waiting. Through this book, I’ve been reminded that Jesus has secured once and for all our eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12) and that our walk with Him is not one of seeing clearly, but of trusting and of faith. If Christ has secured our ETERNAL redemption through means of His own blood, how could I doubt that His intercession on our behalf will sustain us through every season? If He died for me, why am I so worried about needing to justify myself in the eyes of others by what I’m doing (or not doing)?

I believe this season of waiting has been needed to continue to prepare us for life overseas; I mean, from what I hear, it’s pretty unpredictable over there! Our waiting seems so small compared to stories we read of in Scripture: Joseph waiting in prison in Egypt, the Israelites waiting for the coming Messiah, or John the Baptist waiting (and doubting) in prison before his death. We trust that God is working in us to grow us in matters of the heart (like patience and trust in His timing) and also in practical matters (like how to steward the time well with no set schedule). We know these are things we will continue to learn and grow in after we, Lord willing, make it to Southeast Asia!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” –Hebrews 12:1-2

How can we help your church be equipped to join God in His mission both locally and globally? Contact us and let us know.