If you have the
opportunity to go on a mission trip and are able to go, I pray you will say, “Yes
Lord.” Perhaps you are afraid, lack
the money, or feel inadequate. Consider how big our God is. He will clear the
way.
God does not need us to accomplish
His purpose. Instead, he allows us to be a part of his plan. WOW moments from
our team included: Being the first person to say the name of Jesus in a village
that has never heard His name, sharing the gospel with a woman who has
persecuted Christians and then praying with her as she repented and accepted
Jesus and then seeing a new light in her eyes, witnessing to workers at a
goldmine and seeing the crowd grow as they pressed in to hear the true treasure
of God’s word, helping believers learn a new skill so they can support their families
and seeing believers have joy and hope in a hopeless environment!
It’s impossible to describe the
heaviness of our hearts as we realized that the thousands of people we passed
on the road are going to spend eternity in hell unless other Christians
respond. The population of Niger is 17 million. Over the week, our small team
divided into three groups and shared the gospel with perhaps 2000. Only God
knows if the seeds we sowed will mature and be harvested.
Last year we conducted Bible School
in a village. Perhaps 50 children received t-shirts with the logo “His Sheep
Hear His Voice.” Jonathan ran across a child in the market wearing one of the
t-shirts. The odds of seeing one of the same children was astronomical. I see
it as God affirmation that He will reap the harvest.
One of our team members used his artistic
gifts to develop pictograms to educate the Songhai on water sanitation and
purification practices. For more information go to this link: www.wkunews.wordpress.com/2014/03/24/water-research-westafrica Jonathan Oglesby’s work is
groundbreaking and may revolutionize teaching methods in the poorest places on
earth. He said, “As much as they suffer for
water; they suffer more for the living water.” This is an example of how God uses each of our unique gifts
to grow his kingdom. But we have to step outside of our comfort zone and be
obedient. What are your special gifts?
I plan to return to Niger in 2016 and
hope by then there are no more villages that have never heard the name of
Jesus. For that to happen, someone else must go. I’m committed to continuing to
go, as long as I’m physically able. God does not call us to go, He commands it.
I pray that you will say, “Yes Lord.”
If you have time and would like to
read about the experience of someone on the mission field who is afraid and
inadequate, check out my personal blog at www.sheliastovall.com. Over the next few weeks, I’ll make a
post for each day. If God can use me and my limited talents, He can use you.
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