Ask Why!

People back home often ask me why we go over 6,000 miles away to share God's love, when there are people 6 miles and 6 feet away who need to hear and feel God's love! There is never an argument from me on that truth and I will always answer that question with 3 reasons!

The first and most important is that God has called us here! We would never be here if God were not a part of the call when He asked, "Whom shall I send, who will go for us?" I'll be the first to say that I would never have guessed that I would end up serving Christ in Croatia! Eleven years ago I didn't know how to spell Croatia let alone know where it was! But God laid it on my heart and I rose, although reluctantly at first, answering "Here I am, send me!"

All of us who are followers of Jesus are called to ministry and that brings me to my second point! We don't call our mission a "trip" every time we come! The word "trip" gives the impression that there is an end and that we are on some sort of vacation. We refer to our summer, winter and fall treks across the globe as "Mission Learning Opportunities." We are on a mission looking for opportunities to learn and share not only while we are on a foreign field, but also to take what we learned back home with us and apply throughout the year! Sometimes it takes getting out of our comfort zone for God to do His best work and for us to realize we can only do it, because He did it and He supplies the power through His Spirit to continue working when we return.

Lastly, we come because God uses relationships of love to supply those we come in contact with His love. Watching those relationships develop over the years has been a huge blessing: seeing Sis develop those relationships at the library and community center through her administration of the outreach programs, seeing God use each person to touch the life or lives of those He specifically called together! To witness my wife connect with Coach Robert's wife from Poland and his daughter, Nelka. (When I showed him the picture below, he immediately said, "Three Sisters!")  God is using those relationships to change lives and that is worth every mile we have to travel and every sleepless night!

Thank you to each of you for your prayer and financial support. Without that none of this would be possible! Thanks for allowing us to use our steps, to leave HiS PRINT!

Have a wonderful God filled weekend!