I Gained A Bit of Perspective This Weekend

Room #1 - Imagine your husband is called by God to go to the mission field - so with a 6, 4 and 1 year old you pack up all your belongings and for the first time ever you leave the US to head to Argentina to become a life long missionary. Imagine the sacrifice - leaving the comforts of your home, your family, your church, your friends, your language, your car, Target and Starbucks!

Saturday night our church put us on a simulated missionary journey and the true scenario above was the story of our missionary speaker whose children are now in their 20's. At this point - we all assumed a simulated call to the mission field and moved to room#2 where we began to think about raising support. A missionary to Jordan got choked up as he shared about the hardship he went through raising support for his wife and 3 children during the economic down turn in America last spring. He faced a lot of rejection and discouragment and spent much time on his knees in prayer dependence on God.

After raising support we moved to room #3 where we discovered the training involved for missionaries. Some spend years in Bible school and then language school before departing to begin their ministry.


Then with fake money in hand we moved to room #4 - time to get our passports, airline tickets, a Dr. check up and fill out mounds of paper work! We moved from station to station completing these tasks.

Then down the hall we went to board our plane to the field - we showed our passports and tickets and boarded our plane - the kids LOVED this part! With rows of chairs lining the hallway and stewardesses speaking another language - we enjoyed refreshments and a view out our window.

Once landing we went through customs - that was a hassle and we had to do some bribing to get us all through with our extra baggage! Then we boarded the very crammed bus with chickens on board and headed to our new home.

We arrived out back behind the church where tiki torches were lit and a bonfire was going.

Around the campfire one missionary shared his struggles - his ups and downs of his 20+ years of missions work. Our hearts were warmed with inspiration. I was thankful that my children could experience such a neat journey and have their eyes opened to the fascinating stories of these courageous men and women of faith.
I know that the kids of our age adore Lebron James and Hanna Montana...but can I just say - these heroes do not compare to the real heroes that stood before us that night. These brave and noble missionaries are the true heroes.

Who are your heroes? Who do you encourage your children to be someday? We need to expos our children to these heros through books, the web, or by attending these kinds of conferences.

Missionaries were a huge shaping force in my childhood heart. Our children need to know that they too serve a HUGE God who is worthy of such sacrifice. May we as moms and grandmas NEVER forget the sacrifice that some are making right this moment to further the gospel. We must pray for them and take a little perspective from them on how posh our life really is...and how much more we could serve God if only we had the courage!

John 3:30 "He must become greater, I must become less."NIV

Walk with the King!