The purpose of our work

Hello Friends!

How are you? I hope you are all doing well. It’s been a while since I last updated the blog and thought I would take the time to do so.

            Much has happened since I last wrote but these happenings have been more internal than external. I feel like God is teaching me so many lessons, and that is truly a blessing and a joy. Thank you so much for your prayers, support and encouragement. This experience has so far been so amazing, and I praise God for bringing me here.

            Lately I have gotten to do all kinds of work. As a short termer, I do a lot of odd jobs, maintenance, and construction. My most recent job has been to clean and paint a zinc roof with several other STA guys. I’ve also started working with the HIV/AIDS clinic here in Galmi, helping in the record keeping department and learning how to generate statistical tables and charts using patient info to help streamline and focus the HIV/AIDS department. Both of these jobs have been very challenging but also very rewarding. Besides these jobs however, I also get to spend time in the hospital, watching surgeries and occasionally lending a hand in simple procedures. Finally, there’s work that I do that isn’t necessarily “work”—relationship building, encouraging, learning about God and myself, prayer, etc. 

            Despite the amount of work that I do, I have been struggling spiritually with the question of purpose and direction. Since coming to Galmi, I have had numerous conversations with both long termers and short termers about purpose, and I think if there is any spiritual battle that people are fighting here, it is feeling that there is a lack of purpose in their lives. I think even the Doctors in the hospital to some extent, sometimes wonder if their lives are having an eternal impact, simply because the stream of people needing physical healing is constant, and I know that many of the doctors here miss having the time to pour into their patients spiritually.

While I know that God has me here for specific reasons, and that He was the one that brought me here, sometimes I am caught up in asking myself…what am I doing here? How am I serving? How do I measure the significance of my actions? How do I truly serve God in the moments that I am here? These questions can be difficult to answer, because a large part of me came to Africa with a “do work!” attitude. The earthly fleshy part of me often wants to reduce things to the physical. Give me a roof to paint, and I will feel like I have accomplished something. Let me be a doctor and do surgeries, and then I will have done something good with my life. While these things are very good and important, I know that I will miss the mark of what God has for me if I reduce life to things that I can put my hands on. There is a deeper spiritual work to be done, and that is spreading the love and truth of Jesus Christ. That purpose must undergird every work I do.

            This powerful and profound truth is one I so often forget, as I begin to reduce life to a series of physical hoops to be jumped through, when in reality, the physical seems to be more of a means through which God moves. I have finally begun to realize that it matters little what kind of profession I have, or what kind of job I do here in Galmi. I still feel God calling me towards medical missions at this point. However, I realize that what matters most is how well I spread the gospel through my words and actions no matter my circumstances, trials, or occupation.

            This truth—that we live to spread God’s love and truth—cannot be lived out minus the Holy Spirit. Every day, there are countless moments in which I interact with both believer and non-believer alike. In each of these moments I have a chance to spread the gospel. However, to even be aware of these opportunities and “alert” as the Bible calls me to be, I desperately need the Holy Spirit actively working in me from the inside out. I need to take up the Holy armor described in Ephesians and be totally surrendered to God. Only then can I stand as effective witnesses.

Please be praying for me. There are many battles that myself and those around me are fighting (thus the need for the armor) that are completely unlike anything we have ever encountered in the states. These battles affect the physical as well as the emotional, mental and spiritual side of things. Sickness has been a real issue for almost all of the short termers here at Galmi--myself included. I have continued to battle some kind of nasty and prolonged sinus infection. Despite not being 100%, I have been able to continue to work, and have really felt God giving me supernatural physical strength to handle hot days and hard work, and I praise God for that!

Also be praying for my contact with the locals. The other STA’s and I have had some very cool opportunities to connect with Nigerienes. I have started helping teach English to kids from Galmi on a weekly basis, and that has been an awesome experience. We get to play games, sing songs, write and draw. It’s pretty much like going to an American VBS, except that the kids sometimes fight over who gets to drink from the American water cooler, and Nigerien kids are generally a lot more into the activities that we Americans would be too cool to enjoy at 13 or 14, like dancing and singing. I have gotten to know several of the kids in my class, and while it’s amazing to see local children actually learning and improving their English, it’s even more amazing to have the chance to share the gospel with those children in a classroom setting. I have gotten to read several Bible stories aloud, and the kids really seem receptive to Jesus and the things He did. I’ve also had the chance to continue to talk with and get to know O, my gardener, as well as several other men and women that work on the SIM compound. Finally, I have had the wonderful opportunity to get involved in the youth group at my local church, and have met some really neat guys there.

Please be praying that my actions and words will tell of the hope I have found in Jesus. I want to be a witness to those around me, and I can’t do that without God’s leading. Also pray that I would be able to continue to form relationships with non-believers. While I feel that I am connecting well with Galmi-ites, I haven’t had the chance to get to know as many non-Christians. Please pray God would give me opportunities for form relationships with non-Christians, and to pour God’s love into their lives.

Ok, there’s so much more to tell, but I think that’s all for now. Thank you for your prayers and encouragements and know that you guys are in my prayers as well! God bless!