Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1:3-7
It’s truly hard to believe that I’ve already been here for 6 months. In some ways it feels like I’ve always been here, in other ways it feels like I’ve only been here a week. Mostly it feels like I’ve always been here. Even though it’s been challenging, I wouldn’t be anywhere else. The Lord has affirmed when I needed affirmation and has grown areas in my life I didn’t realized needed growing. Through it all He is worthy!
Time to Reflect
I remember landing almost six months ago now and thinking to myself “What have I done?” Before leaving I had such peace and even excitement in coming here. Surely I had worked through everything, the details had been set, and I would be just fine. I knew that Lord had a plan for my life and I was excited to see what He was going to do. I knew all I had to do was show up and follow Him. Unfortunately, because we are sinful and fallen, this is so much easier said than done. Being a follower of Jesus requires a radical change in life and heart. When one grows in the Holy Spirit this means we are always changing, growing, being refined, and made aware of our constant need for Christ. Ouch.
When I wrote my last update that I was feeling distressed and in desperate need for the pure joy of Christ. Praise Him that He knows what we need when we need it! Three weeks ago, I had a very encouraging conversation with another, older worker here who has a ministry that answers the calls of people who are desperately wanting to know more about the Gospel. He shared with me ways I can plug in and get involved and how I can practice spiritual language. A couple days later I was able to share what Jesus has done in my life with two girls who work at an Arab café I frequently go to. They seemed curious to know more and I have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them since. The Lord is at work in this city and there is so much more for me to do than simply language learning! I look forward to helping out at the call center to meet other local believers and help bring the Gospel to those who are already searching. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few!