Caren
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Corinthians 4:7)
It was a cold, dark late December afternoon when I first saw this city. Over the days that followed, I would learn that the outward appearance of this former East German city was also very much a reflection of the state of the inhabitant’s souls, for this is the most atheistic region of the world…
Though my first visit was short and at times uncomfortable, I prayed to the Lord, that if He wanted to send me here, that He would need to give me a heart for this place and make the way. As the months passed, my heart couldn’t shake the growing burden I felt for this city - how could I justify turning away, when I knew there was a city where less than 0.5% of the people knew Jesus? (That’s less than the amount of Chrisitans in places like Morocco or Algeria!). Steps of faith were rewarded, as the Lord provided a job in my specialty and guided me through the bureaucracy in a miraculous way.
Some may say that I am the least likely candidate for such a place: a foreigner, a medical professional and not your “typical” missionary. Part of me would agree. Then, there is the other part who looks at Jesus, in the midst of the crowd of hungry people, and comes to Him, offering my few loaves and fish, even though it can never be enough to feed them all. Or, could it?
That is the offering of the bivocational worker. We offer our skills, our passions to Jesus in obedience to His call to “Go into all the world”, and we trust Him to take our crumbs and multiply and save. It’s the risk of investing our talents, but for a heart and mind set on things above, a risk we joyfully take, just waiting to see what the Master could do with that which He gave us for the sake of the lost, for the sake of His name and so that His people would fear Him.
I go as someone sent with a special skill-set, to work amongst other healthcare workers and the sick. I also go to be part of a church plant community, with the boldness of Jesus’ promise in John 17:22 that by the unity of love of the church for each other, then the world will know that He is the Christ.