Ron's mom passed away this past week.
There are hard moments in life where it seems the Lord sends a certain scripture or song for encouragement. I am so thankful for those moments!
For such a time as this
I was placed upon this earth
To hear the voice of God and do His will
Whatever it is
I am here
I am here
I am His
For such a time as this
~Paraphrase of Esther 4:14 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXcJUIAJNW0)
I have had the great blessing of being able to hike out into some very remote villages here in Haiti. When I stand on top of the mountains, I truly feel the presence of God. I think of my grandparents in times such as this--walking from village to village to evangelize. They lived in the middle of unrest. They lived in the middle of war. They experienced incredible hardship, but they held strong to their calling.When we were first called to the mission field, we thought we were called to China. We even had accepted a position in China over 15 years ago. And then my mom was diagnosed with cancer for the first time. And God told us to wait....and so we waited.... and waited.... and waited on the Lord.
And then finally.... God said Go....
We went to mission organizations. We talked about what the Lord had laid on our hearts. Or maybe I should say, we tried to. We were quickly told, you have too many children to serve under our ministry. Most mission organizations have family size limits for those they send on the field. This was funny to me because I had never read anything in the Bible about limiting the number of children you have in order to serve God.
This is how we ended up essentially as "independent" missionaries. We were called and so we went. I am not doubting God during this difficult time. I know He has it ALL in His hands. But I will say that there is a reason mission organizations limit family size. To be truthful, I still don't think it's right or biblical, but I do understand the fear and concern. Since we moved to Haiti, my mother passed away. And now Ron's mom has passed away as well.Our family watched the memorial service of my mother through the blessing of video streaming. There were no physical arms around me from immediate family standing next to me at the memorial service. Thankfully, my grown children, other family members, and many friends were there, but my husband and our younger children were thousands of miles away--across the ocean in Haiti. They were not able to attend their grandmother's service. It was certainly NOT in our budget to drop over $15K to come back for a funeral.
Mission organizations typically transport families home during these times. They also pay for furlough and medical insurance and many other things that we've simply given up. We have opted to rely on the Lord for His continued guidance, protection, and blessing.
Ron has traveled back to the States and will stay there for two weeks. I'm staying behind with our kids in Haiti.
This is HARD.
But then I think of my history and my heritage. I think of my mother who had to travel two months on a Naval transport ship back from China. I think of her mother dying while they were in China. Her family members were not present. There were no international flights at that time. I think of my grandparents who would receive a telegraph days or weeks later notifying of births, deaths, and important events back in the States. There was no internet streaming, Skype, Pinger, WhatsApp, or Facebook or Instagram. Nothing was instant. Now though, from just about any remote village, we have the ability to access the world--even if the connection may be unreliable.
I was not raised in a Christian home. That is a long story that I hope to share more about someday. I barely knew my grandfather and (step) grandmother. They were across the ocean in Asia continuing to serve the Lord. I am not sure that they ever realized it, but while they were evangelizing around Asia, they were also evangelizing a young grandchild back in the States.
I would spend hours wondering: what would cause someone to give up everything and serve the Lord? What would compel someone to go to a far off distant land to preach the gospel? Why would they do that? This impacted me greatly. I admired their sacrifice. Although my mother was traumatized by her life and her upbringing, she held high respect for their calling.I came to know the Lord as a young adult. And since that time, life has not all been easy. In fact, life has been really, really hard. But God has continued to provide abundantly. We have been able to purchase a plane ticket for Ron to travel back to the States for two weeks. When my mom passed away, we were blessed with the ability for me to travel back to Oregon as well. We serve a mighty God!
