Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Matthew 9:35-38
Looking Back
I would have to mark this year as a year of confidence. I have learned to trust God more than ever before. I have been reminded of and forced to take upon myself the experiential reality that my satisfaction and purpose come ultimately from God. Sometimes He sends the memos of His love in the form of suppressed levee waters blasting into open caverns at their first chance of freedom; other times as gentle outlets trickling into commonplace situations, carried on through the underestimated blessings of friendships and relationship where time and familiarity carry off years of unnecessary sediment to form clear channels for fulfilling life’s work and calling.
This year has been crowded with daily lessons to grasp myself for who God sees me to be, to love and appreciate other people for who they are, and to help them do the same for themselves. For my own part, this is a struggle and often goes against my nature.
Going to a different nation—and one that still lives and breathes palpably under the domineering hand of generations of Soviet lack of accountability and intolerance for dissimilar ideas—stretches my understanding and acceptance of God’s vision to see the crowds, have compassion on them, and help the harassed and the helpless. But this is what Jesus preached in the Gospels, and this is what it means to give the “good news” feet—to spread the light God has shown me in my Christian life, my socioeconomic life, and in my cultural life, and to share all of those experiences of God’s love with people in the gentle voice that will touch them through their differences. I was learning to do this in the US before I left, and now I have to practice new methods and break through language barriers in learning to do it in a strange place amidst foreign philosophies.
So it has been a big year and a good year. In the end of my last blog post I explained a little of how God is pushing me into ministries and friendships that push forward His kingdom. I will begin uploading some media soon that will help show God’s gospel feet in motion.
Looking Forward To…?
Now I am scared. Coming here ten months ago was not very difficult compared to this. I knew I had God’s calling and I knew things would be okay because of that. I knew I was supposed to bring God’s hands and feet here. But I don’t know what I have and what I’m called to after the next two months, when my first year here ends.
And without knowing God’s plans, every option and idea has an element that frightens me. To stay in Ukraine, to go back to Nashville, to teach English, to teach third graders in a missionary school, to be in ministry through worship or through countless other ways—all of these are possibilities but all of them would be empty if they are not the right one.
Last night I had to push through some emotions while I sorted through what I’ve left behind. I left friends in Nashville that I still go to when I’m in trouble and need to talk. But it’s not the same being here. I miss spending time around the game table or the TV or the fire pit with them. I miss my church where sermons and worship are in my language. I miss impromptu lunch meetings and casual evenings out. I miss my work. I miss knowing what I’m doing. I miss being good at it. I miss things being easy. And maybe what it comes down to is I miss being in control. And the greatest lesson of all may be to learn to not miss that.
Not Just About Me
And the other fact is, I can't make a huge decision—such as what country to live in—without taking into account the most precious person in my life. Those of you who are married or dating, you know what I'm talking about. We don't live in a vacuum. Our decisions change the lives of people around us, and the closer those people are, the greater the impact.
Thankfully, I believe I serve a God who knows His plans and is big enough to put the pieces together. If His plan is for me to be with Lesya for the rest of my life, then His plan is to include her in my ministry and mesh the two into one. He is not a God who will say, "Lesya was the perfect girl for you. But too bad, because you'll never see her again." God doesn't have the limitations that we face and His plans have been in order for thousands of years. He has "known" us since before our planet was set orbiting around the sun and before we were sent scurrying around it.
Prayers, Please Please Please!
I do not know what the rest of this year holds after March. I don’t know my calling, my place, my ministry. I’m not sure I even know the gifts that are at God’s disposal, although this has been a year of cultivating some and realizing new light in others. Many of you know how this uncertainty feels, and I would appreciate your help in not going through it alone.
I would also like prayers specifically regarding my relationship with Lesya. As I've said, everything is intertwined. She is a marvelous helper, encourager and friend. She has been the single most steadfast source of my sanity through many trials here. Just this evening she reminded me again of the ways things are changing, the work she sees being done, and the impact I am having here. Also, the ways in which she is trusting God and learning to see herself will unite contagiously with her heart for others and carry on into every job or friendship or ministry she participates in, whether I am around to see it or not. I like to think I will be around. However, we both realize that this relationship works only as long as God says it does and we are both recognize we are deficient of His final "yes" at the moment. That said, this is an area we would both appreciate prayer for knowing God's direction.
To summarize, I don’t want to run away from anything. I want to run into it… I just need to know what “it” is and I need the open-mindedness to accept it when it comes and the courage to follow God’s path where it leads, how it leads.
This is a verse that both Lesya and I have been making the most of over the last months as we have each made steps to give up everyday security in favor of God’s eternal security:
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11