When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” — Luke 18:22
This is the verse that has resounded to my husband and me several times. I vividly remember nights lying in bed and discussing if this was something God was calling us to do. He just never made clear what or when so we waited…
After 18 years of marriage and many amazing ministry opportunities, God finally revealed His plan and why we had all those discussions. We were indeed called to sell all that we had and give up our life here in the U.S. to serve with MAF in Indonesia.
The last year has been a whirlwind of mission classes, interviews, paperwork, training, and, most recently, packing. We arrived back in Indiana in August after spending a good part of the summer at MAF headquarters, and had 30 days to pack, purge, and move out of the house that we called home for over 11 years.
.
One of the toughest things was finally cleaning out our 9-year-old daughter’s room after she passed away in 2017. Making decisions on what to store, what was worth shipping all the way across the world, and what would be sold at auction was tough.
As the trailers of the items that made up our life pulled out of our old driveway, that verse immediately came to mind again: “sell all you have and follow me.” I became filled with gratitude that the Lord not only chose us but also that He had been gentle in planting the seed—that scripture—years before to give us time to prepare and grow spiritually.
.
Our years have been filled with youth ministry, small groups, recovery ministry, parenting, fostering and adopting. We can see now that each of those ministries taught us something to get us ready for such a time as this.
Alongside the many MAF missionaries that have gone before us, we are humbled and privileged to live out this scripture.
2 Comments
Thank you for serving in Indonesia. Back in 1952 the year I was born a couple from my home church started serving in lndonesia. I remember they would come back on furlough and talk about Jesus working in Indonesia. I grew up and joined the Navy. Subsequently I was able to make several trips to Indonesia while I was in the Navy. I retired out of the Navy in 1992. Since then I have changed jobs several times. With every job change I was hoping God would call me to Indonesia but he never did. A while back my daughter was called to be a missuonary to Peru. It was than that I realized I was not called to be a missionary but to support missionaries. Incidentally I was able to go back to Indonesia three years ago on a mission trip from the church I now attend. The Indonesian people are the best people group I have ever known and I have literally circumvented the world. Thank you again for answering the call. In Jesus’ name.
Wow! Thanks for sharing that! It is amazing to look back at all the things God lined up for us to get us where we are and so fun to hear how he has worked in your life as well. Blessings, Jon!