<strong>Autumn</strong> <strong>2019</strong> PREVENTING THE WELL FROM OUT THERE: FELLOWSHIP INTERNATIONAL
thrive-magazine.ca thrive / 7 RUNNING DRY SOME OF OUR MISSIONARIES SHARE HOW THEY STRIVE TO STAY CLOSE TO THE LORD IN THE MIDST OF DAILY MINISTRY DEMANDS. *Some names have been removed to maintain anonymity. Kathryn Fleming, Fellowship International missionary “You must arrange your days so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God.” —Dallas Willard When I was a child I was in a church club that required me to learn a lot of Bible verses. If you memorized enough Scripture you could win prizes. I liked the prizes as well as the attention. One day, after procrastinating and only having a couple of hours before the reciting, I put a verse to song. Colossians 3:16: “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly...” Little did I know that years later this would be one of the ways I nourished myself and my family spiritually. God speaks to me all day long through passages of Scripture that I have memorized through song. I swim regularly, and often the Holy Spirit brings passages to mind and I get to sing them while exercising. When I feel anxious and fearful the Spirit reminds me of the Lord’s presence with me and I am comforted. Sometimes I look for other ways to calm myself down but God graciously and tenderly, through His Word, brings me to back to His reality-the only true source of peace. In Japan, feelings of inadequacy and fear often grip me just before meeting people. I would like to turn around and go home, but God reminds me through my Scripture songs that He goes ahead of me and will strengthen me. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV). K., Fellowship International missionary While trying to help other people establish and maintain a growing walk with Jesus, it is easy to fall into a pattern of coming to the Word in order to teach it, rather than in order to deepen my own walk. I have done various things over the years to make sure that I was listening to the Spirit. One thing I have done is to keep a jar in which I place sticky notes of thanksgiving for what God is doing in and through me. Then, on New Year’s Eve, I take them all out and remember God’s faithfulness throughout that year. Reading through the Bible has been another way to keep the focus off of ministry and on Jesus. I have also tried to learn to obey when God reveals something new to me. I can’t expect my relationship to grow if I am not willing to put into practice the things I already know that I need to incorporate in my life. One final thing that helps me is to read Scripture in different versions of English, Spanish, and Portuguese in order to really meditate on a passage, especially when it is one that I have read often. Slowing down and hearing it in a different way often allows the Spirit to speak in fresh ways through a familiar passage. M. Wall, Fellowship International missionary SLOWING DOWN AND HEARING IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY OFTEN ALLOWS THE SPIRIT TO SPEAK IN FRESH WAYS THROUGH A FAMILIAR PASSAGE. Following Jesus allows me to navigate various cultural landscapes. Here is one thing that helps me to stay fresh: I am learning to listen. I pray as I eat, and eat as I pray. God comes to remind me in strange ways that He is with me. A little bird lands on my window sill as I contemplate God’s wonder in the quietness of the morning. My prayer is full of burden. Through the sparrow, God reminds me that He’s got my back. The burden lifts and I can move on with more lightness. As I travel cross-culturally to teach, I am usually over-prepared. But then in the midst of trying to communicate a new concept, one local leader says, “Here, take my eyes.” Seeing through the eyes of others and learning from their embodiment of what it means to follow Jesus rattles me every time, but God speaks through this. These new eyes help me to question what I have received from my previous cultural experiences. They are God’s way of keeping me fresh. I am learning to listen.
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