Below is an update from one of our missionaries. Please continue to keep those sent out from RVC in your prayers!
Yesterday I heard several funeral announcements over the loudspeaker, as they usually have every couple days in our city. Since we live in a city the size of Madison which has no church and maybe 2 local believers, most of the city has never heard the gospel or even met a Christian before. So when I heard those funeral announcements, the words “may Allah have mercy on them and their families” struck a chord with me. We were too late for them. They never heard.
Sometimes I can be crushed by the overwhelming weight of lostness here. And I’m sure many of you feel the same helplessness against the many problems in the world that you can’t fix. This morning I read some helpful and freeing words from Kevin DeYoung’s book, “Crazy Busy.” So if you’re struggling like I am with a sense of guilt for not doing more, read these excerpts from chapter 4, “The Terror of Total Obligation”:
“We know we can always pray more and give more and evangelize more, so we get used to living in a state of mild disappointment with ourselves. That’s not how the apostle Paul lived (1 Cor. 4:4), and it’s not how God wants us to live, either (Rom. 12:1–2).”
“Care is not the same as do. At the Lausanne m*ssions gathering in 2010, John Piper made the statement that “we should care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering.” He chose the word “care” quite carefully. He didn’t want to say we should do something about all suffering, because we can’t do something about everything. But we can care.”
“We have different gifts and different callings. Every Christian must be prepared to give an answer for the reason for the hope that we have (1 Pet. 3:15), but not everyone will do beach ev*ngelism. Every Christian should be involved in the Great Commission, but not everyone will move overseas. Every Christian should oppose abortion, but not everyone will adopt or volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center.”
“Jesus didn’t do it all. Jesus didn’t meet every need. He left people waiting in line to be healed. He left one town to preach to another. He hid away to pray. He got tired. He never interacted with the vast majority of people on the planet. He spent thirty years in training and only three years in ministry. He did not try to do it all. And yet, he did everything God asked him to do.”
I hope those words are a helpful encouragement to all of you as well. Work hard according to your gifts and rest in the work of Christ. Thank you all for encouraging us and praying for us.
Drive-by updates on our lives:
-We’re pregnant! Due date is 8/31.
-A woman here (Z) has expressed faith!
-We have started meeting together with a few locals for worship.
-We had a good 6-day vacation that was very restful, even though Asher woke up several times each night.
For more updates, we will be sending out a newsletter update shortly. Email Aaron to get added to the update list.
M, A, & A