Thursday, September 8, 2011

Email from God

Once a long time ago the phone rang and we believe it was God who called. His request, via Habitat for Humanity, was to get involved in the ministry of giving folks a hand up through affordable decent housing. Bruce responded to the call and has been on fire ever since to use his God given skills in carpentry and his leadership abilities for Kingdom Building.
So, it should be no surprise that one day we would receive an email from God asking us to do deeper into service for the glory of God.

For some time now, Bruce has been searching out ways to be more deeply involved in using carpentry as the means for sharing the love of Christ to the world. It's been precarious balance however as trying to earn a living often interferes with ministry and doing ministry requires a sacrifice that often means a lack of income. His desire, his dream is to do full time ministry through construction and still manage to support us while doing so. We do not have any clear cut answers about the How's of this but it doesn't stop us from remaining open to the Spirit's leading and calling on our lives. In fact last night Bruce stated quite emphatically that he knows he HAS to be doing ministry full time -- and this conviction can only come from God.

This morning he opened his email to find a letter from God... this time through a ministry called Steppin-Out Missions, which has connections with Samaritan's Purse. Samaritan's Purse has been helping in Japan in the restoration needed after the Tsunami hit.  I give you here a small taste of the email....


Hello Dear Ministry Partners,

     This message is coming to you as an urgent opportunity for ministry! Steppin-Out Missions just received a personal request from the Samaritan’s Purse Country Director in Japan asking if we could bring teams right away to help and assist them! 

    ... They need teams and people who care about sharing the love of Christ through their hands! Samaritan’s Purse is asking that we respond now!! 
 If you have been keeping up with the news you are aware of the needs in Japan.  Samaritan’s Purse is doing tremendous work there with not only assisting in meeting personal needs but also sharing the Gospel of Christ to a country that is only 1% Christian.
from the email: here is our opportunity to join in on what God is doing in Japan!!  God has opened this door and who will “Step” in? According to the information from SP, the people in Japan have been allowed to return to their homes, most of which are 2-story and are living in the upstairs part of that home. There is much mucking/cleaning to do and then they have asked us for assistance in the early constructions stages: dry-wall, ceilings, etc. 
 This was enough to grab Bruce's heart and he had to step away from his computer at that moment. He could not finish reading. He was so disturbed by the stirring in his heart that he asked me to finish reading the email and then tell him what I thought. I immediately complied. And before I even finished the email I knew. I knew the only answer we could give was "yes." Before I could even digest what saying yes might entail, before I could count the cost, understand the sacrifice, and mull over the logistics, I knew. Bruce HAS to be involved with this opportunity.

Once I shared this with Bruce, he finished reading the email and responded to it asking for more information and the application form and offering an initial 2 week commitment of his time.
And then, the realities kicked in.... :)
We're gearing up to start Alpha in a few weeks. We're starting a new small group at our church. Oh, and of course, there is the constant need to look for work and then go to work. 
And where do I fit into all of this you might be asking-- and it is a good question because that was one of my questions once we started thinking in terms of reality. We've already agonized over mission trip opportunities that separate us...  For this mission the need is for carpenters. the work is physical. my body won't let me do physical.
Yet, a great calm descended on us. We do a dance with God. He asks us to dance and we stand up to join him. We take a step, He takes a step. Peter walked on water but he first had to get out of the boat. We have been asked, we are responding. IN FAITH, knowing that if God brings us to it He will also bring us through it. We say yes and then He puts the pieces into place. 
And so, here we are; open and willing and relying entirely on God for the next step. When he would go to Japan and how he will get there, would there be an appropriate role for me or is my role to stay here and pray... we don't know. We only know that we have been asked to dance. We may not know what sort of dance it will be. But we are saying yes.



****They need carpenters to help with making as many homes as possible, ready for living in by winter. A link was included in the email to get a further idea of the work they are doing there...    http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/waves_of_grace/
 

No comments:

Post a Comment

thank you so much for taking time to read and comment! have a great day!