How can one even begin to describe a
mountaintop-of-the-year experience? The Global Missions Health Conference is
one of the top highlights of every year: 3 packed days, 4 plenary messages,
dozens of breakout sessions to choose from, and the incredible encouragement of
worshipping together with over 3,000 people.
This Missions thing is not always easy. Worth it? Yes.
Awesome, incredible, overwhelming, breathtaking, and life-changing? Absolutely.
But easy? Not. Being in the center of God’s will is the BEST place to
spend every minute of one’s life… and while we always receive more blessings
than we ever deserve, there are often slippery or difficult patches to navigate
as we travel this Kingdom road.
I was eleven years old when my family and I left the
sunny paradise of California and headed North and East towards an unfamiliar
and forbidding land. With a heart still aching from saying goodbye to our house
and pets and orchards and gardens and everything we called home, I soon became
intrigued by the fascinating new life opening before us. It was cold. And
snowy. And windy. And the people didn’t speak our language (an awkward and novel
experience for a kid).
Slowly, we accustomed ourselves to this new life. We taught
ourselves music, learned to eat strange foods, embarrassed ourselves (and made
others laugh) with our French until it finally became smoother, studied the
captivatingly complex culture of the Acadians, and became pros at ice-jumping –
an Adams-invented sport involving leaping from iceberg to iceberg (it’s only
risky if you attempt this over deep water). We were happy.
We were also awed by the difficulties of missions life,
and the only place we could turn was to God, Who was always there for us and
brought us through every.single.moment of every.single.day, faithful and
trustworthy and worth serving. There were days when the fridge was empty and we
were hungry and there was no money with which to buy food. Sometimes winter
storms would rage for long cold days at a time, the snow packed firmly against
the windows and shutting out the light, ice caked in thick sheets over
everything, the electricity out, the temperature in the house hovering around
freezing. There was palpable demonic oppression that gives me goosebumps right
now just remembering it. And the Islanders are a hard people, a resolute and
rugged group of shipwreck descendants, with whom you must build years of
relationship before winning their trust.
I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything! I’ve
learned that the best place to be is wherever God calls, and who knows where
that will be in one or ten or fifty years from now. God has us stationed at a
base across the Quebec border at the moment, in Vermont, the least churched
state in the whole of the U.S., and it is a mission field all its own.
Which is why conferences like the GMHC are a great shot
in the arm (understatement of the year). So, here is a sampling of my favorite
quotes from those three full days (for security reasons, I’ve only included
first names):
“If there is no risk, there is no need for faith.” –
Charles
“You’re not too young or too old to hear God calling
your name…. God wants you to serve where YOU are needed most.” – Joseph
“Students: whatever you are studying, don’t waste your
life.” – Eileen
“Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world –
what are we doing about it?” – Eileen
“Jesus was always busy, but never in too much of a
hurry to care for hurting people…. The highest and best use of your life is to
do what He has called you to do, where He has called you to do it.” – Brian
“Am I a missionary only to the [-----], or am I a
missionary everywhere, even at home?” - Evan
