Sacrifice

"For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. 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 Livingstone

I recently heard in a missions conversation some wisdom which I hadn't thought of before now. This person said that when you're walking in the calling that God has for you, it never feels like a sacrifice to you. If it felt like a sacrifice then that would bring pride. You would feel like you were doing something great for God out of your own strength.

When Ben and Kami first invited me to come work with them in Cambodia, I almost said no. I really had this prideful attitude that I needed to go somewhere in missions where I didn't know anybody and learn to cope with the loneliness, stretch myself, and step out of my comfort zone and all that good churchy jargon we hear all the time.

Now I know, moving to Cambodia isn't going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination. But getting to serve in my first real missions appointment with people who are like family is an incredible blessing.

I prayed about going for a while. I'm really glad I did. Since then, God has been opening my heart to the Cambodian people time and time again. I really feel like they are "my people."

God is good.