When we first arrived, we got everything unpacked fairly quickly, met some of our neighbors right away, got to fellowship with our church for Christmas, had a wonderful first service, and immediately began a small group in our home. It seemed as though everything was just falling into place! I suppose that made Satan pretty worried, because he immediately got to work.
Church members were traveling to visit family and an impending birth made it difficult for us to meet as a small group. Then illnesses swept through our church, plucking us down one-by-one so that meeting as a whole became impossible. We had first-time guests that seemed promising, but they haven't returned. And a meal with our neighbors almost occurred, but then fell through with no explanation. Trips to urgent care with our youngest, and daughters down hard with the flu. Visits from friends canceled or altered. No progress with secondary jobs, and health insurance still pending.
While all of this leads to a lot of frustration, heartache, and weariness, it does not lead to discouragement. How can we be discouraged when we serve such an awesome God? He has called us to this field and we know that if we remain faithful He will provide and be glorified. So, we press on! We have to continually remind ourselves that we have only been here a month. Building God's church takes time. We will look back on all of this and be amazed at what God has done!
And in the meantime, God continually reminds us of His presence and His desire to have us here. We are getting the opportunity to be loved on by our new church family. We got to help welcome a new baby boy into our church and we are praying he is the first of many additions. We got to interact and meet business owners in our community which I hope is the beginning of some valuable friendships. Ben has begun forming relationships with the city council. The girls have started into school and seem to be transitioning well. Our sending church blessed us with a van load of pounding items. (For our northern friends, this is where they give you a pound of this and a pound of that to stock your pantry.) And precious friends came on their "way" home from Tennessee to deliver it all (plus the items we left at our house in Arkansas). Plus they loved on us and encouraged us.
So, if Satan thinks he can bring us down, well he has another thing coming. He has surely underestimated God's people and God's grace. I hope I haven't just challenged Satan, but in case I have, please keep the prayers coming! While God is invincible, we are not. We are all too human. In fact, I almost lost it today on my dear, sick child when she whined about her quarantine arrangements. Please pray for our family to get healthy, along with our church members. We all long for the day when we can ALL meet together again. Please pray for opportunities for us to interact with our neighbors. Please pray for secondary jobs that will fit our schedules and support our desire to reach people. And most importantly, please pray that the Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts of those around us, and that we are ready to meet them where they are.
We love you all. We pray that you are soldiering on in your own fields of harvest. May none of us forget who's care we are in.
Peace and Blessings, Anne
"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38
