There
are some types of people whom you come across only very, very rarely. Whose
commitment to God, depth of character, qualities of personality, abilities, strong principles, Kingdom vision, and overall amazingness puts
them in a different category and you’re left with a profound
gratitude to simply have the privilege of knowing such a person.
Meet
Michael. (Not his real name)
Committed. Interesting. Loyal. Kind. Steady. Fun. Strong. Musical. Missional.
Well-respected. Skilled. Purposeful. Traveled. Well-loved. Awesome. And above
all, sold out to God: even when that means uprooting, saying goodbye to family,
and giving up just about everything Americans take for granted in everyday
life.
Michael
works among the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico; this means living in a small cinder
block house in the middle of nowhere, with no electricity, no air conditioning,
no running water, no grocery stores, and no church full of like-minded friends.
Sacrifice?
Yes. Privilege? Yes. But only a man with the quality of character Michael possesses
could actually see the unutterable privilege masked in so much sacrifice that
it would make most church-going Christians (even in the Bible belt of Texas) run
for their lives.
I
recently had the opportunity to interview Michael and hear his words of wisdom.
I hope they inspire you to live your life more fully consecrated to God, more
focused on His glory, more committed to the plans He has for you. Spending your
life in the service of our King may not be easy, but it is always worth it.
Q:
What is your vision, and how did you determine where God wanted you to be?
Even
as a young boy I was always fascinated with new places, new languages, and new
people. I was also raised in a Christian home. Ever since I can remember, God
had welded together the desire to serve Him and the fascination with other peoples, cultures, and languages. From about 10 years old I felt
the desire to serve God in cross-cultural missions and He continued to press
that on my heart in the years to come.
I always felt a call to Mexico.
Just
after I finished Paramedic school, a friend from school, who was from Mexico,
invited me to come down and visit him and, knowing I was interested in
missions, offered to introduce me to a team that worked with the Tarahumara
Indians. I stayed in Mexico for 2 months and got to know the mission team very
well and was very encouraged by their work. Right from then I began praying
that the Lord would show me if this might be where He wanted me to serve.
Through prayer, the counsel of others, and the opportunity to visit the team
several more times, I decided to begin specific preparations to join this team
a little over 3 years after first visiting.
My vision (and ours as a team)
is to see a church planted among the Tarahumara Indians that will continue to
replicate itself in other areas of the mountains. And that the Tarahumara will
come to know the Lord and that those that believe will share with their own
people of God’s salvation.
Q:
What did you do to prepare for life on the field?
There
were many things that I did to prepare; much of that was seeking to gain
experience in many different practical skills: carpentry, mechanics, Paramedic
school, and things of that nature.
I think the biggest thing I did
in preparation was to find a mentor who helped me to grow in my relationship
with Christ
and in my knowledge of Him and His Word. A little over 2 years before I began
missions in Mexico, I asked an older man if he would be willing to mentor and
disciple me. He helped me learn how to read and study my Bible better and with
purpose, kept me accountable in my spiritual life, shared from his experiences
and knowledge, and was a trusted source I could go to with questions and doubts
about anything.
Growing and preparing myself
spiritually was by far the most important and valuable thing I did to prepare
for missions.
There
are many things that would have been great to have learned or experienced, but
they can be learned later. You can never
replace time and energy spent growing in your relationship with Christ with
anything else to prepare you to serve Him.
Q:
What is your top piece of advice for someone going to the mission field?
Prepare
yourself spiritually.
I
don’t mean learn how to give sermons, learn how to lead a Bible study, learn
how to quote word perfect the plan of salvation. I mean prepare yourself spiritually.
Find a spiritual mentor, study your Bible personally and for your own personal
benefit and growth, learn to pray, learn to fight spiritual battles within your
own person, and learn to love Christ more. Maybe it sounds selfish, but if you
aren’t prepared spiritually, how do you expect to do effective battle against
the enemy in a fight for the eternal destiny of other’s souls?
Q:
How do you stay strong in your relationship with Christ when the going gets
tough?
This
answer comes back to my top piece of advice for going on the mission field. The
years leading up to me going on the field were spent in growing myself in the
Lord and through that time He taught me many, many things and gave me
Scriptures and experiences to look back on that point me back to Him in difficult
times. I’ve always enjoyed journaling, and being able to go back through my
journals and remember how God brought me through other difficult times in my
life helps me take my eyes off myself and fix them back on Him. I would highly
recommend keeping a journal where you can record what God is teaching you. It
doesn’t have to be fancy. Just something you can look back at to remind you of
His faithfulness.
I also
utilize my brothers and sisters in Christ that surround me here. A community of
believers is so important to staying strong as an individual. I have to be the
one to ask for and accept help from them, but maintaining close relationships
with other believers here help point me back to Christ when it is hard for me
to do so alone.
Q:
Have you found coping strategies to deal with stresses or discouragements?
Being
someone who needs to express my emotions outwardly in some form or fashion,
there are three main things that I end up doing when I’m feeling discouraged:
talking to someone I trust about it, writing it down in my journal, or
releasing it through my piano or violin. When I can express to a friend my
discouragements, they can help put things in perspective and point me towards
Christ. With my journal, I like to write my discouragements in the form of a
prayer or even conversation with the Lord. And with my music, I like to pull
out the hymnal and play and sing my favorite hymns. Again, like a prayer and
expression to the Lord of my discouragements, hurts, and needs. Each one helps
me to bring whatever I’m discouraged about or stressed with to the top where
the Lord can skim it off and relieve me of the burden of carrying it alone.
These
are definitely personal strategies of mine but I seek to be very purposeful in
doing one or all of them in times of discouragement because they are the ways
in which I feel I can release the burden and cast my cares upon Him. (1 Peter
5:7)
Q:
What does a typical day look like for you?
A
typical day can be difficult to describe, but each day for me, at this time, is
spent focusing on learning the tribal language and culture. While I am fluent
in Spanish and some of the people speak a little, they only speak enough for
getting what they need. When conversation turns to deeper things, it must be
done in their language and with an understanding of their culture.
Every
morning I enjoy getting up early to have a quiet time by myself with the Lord
before the day starts. As a team, we pray together for an hour or so each
morning as well. After praying together the regular day starts. Daily chores
include bring water from the well a couple of miles away, preparing and having
food ready for visitors that come knocking any time of the day, and of course
fixing miscellaneous water leaks, broken doors, generators, or vehicles.
Outside
of everyday chores, some days I will spend the whole day hiking and visiting
with native friends in their homes, spending time with them in their homes
practicing my language and observing their daily lives. I always carry a little
notebook with me to write down new words or observations I've made about the
culture and then organize that information in the evenings when I return home. There
is also a young man that comes over every other day to help with language
specifically. I practice conversing, ask him about new words I've learned, or
ask him questions about the culture.
Much
of any given day will be hosting visitors and friends that stop by to say hi or
share a meal. People are more important than projects so some days I simply
spend hosting our Indian friends in my home. If fact, while writing this I have
a visitor in my home that has been here for six hours just visiting, chatting,
sipping on coffee, and looking at the pictures in the National Geographic
magazines I have.
"People talk of the
sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that
be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a
great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a
sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the
consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a
glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word in such a view and with
such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice.
Say rather it is a
privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger now and then with
a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life,
may make us pause and cause the spirit to waver and the soul to sink; but
let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us.
I never made a sacrifice.”
– David Livingston
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