Heading to the Valley

When we we were at training at MTI, some of our new friends (who are with another mission organization) had the opportunity to meet with one of their leaders. I guess they mentioned us and that we were going to Bundibugyo, Uganda, and I guess the guy had been there before and worked with some of the World Harvest team.

"Have they ever been there?" he asked. 

They said we had. 

"...and they're still going??"

 he replied, a little surprised. 

This comment wasn't from someone who hadn't had experience with ministry in Africa. The couple (our friends) are going to another part of Africa themselves. But, it seems a common theme we've heard as we prepare to uproot & replant our lives in this new community.

 It's not an easy place to live. And yet, God has called us to make our home and seek His goodness in the valley of the Rwenzori Mountain Range.

...and so here we go...

It's sort of ironic, what God has been teaching me lately about what He has for us in Bundibugyo. Part of our team vision is to "...restore communities to bring worshippers of Jesus across the Albertine Rift." But what if no one notices our efforts, and no one recognizes our desire to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and no one responds to the invitation to come drink from the Living Water that Jesus Christ has to offer? What if their is no tangible fruit? Is the satisfaction of knowing Jesus and delighting in Him every single day, irregardless of outcome, enough to sustain me? Honestly, in the last weeks and months, I've really had to search my heart on this issue. I've really had to dig down deep and analyze my motivations. And I've been convicted in a lot of areas. 


You see, even as a mom right here in Moody, AL, I want people to notice my efforts. I want my husband to notice when I worked really hard cooking a good meal, I want my friends to notice what a nice clean house I'm able to keep even with 2 kids underfoot (which is not a reality, btw), I want outsiders to look at all the balls I'm juggling and say, "Wow! How do you do it all?"
 You see, at the core of it, even in my day-to-day living here (where luxuries abound), I find myself fighting the motivation to live for other people's approval. When I get their approval, I award myself with a pat on the back and set the bar even higher next time (ie: throw one more ball in the air). When no one seems to notice that I have worn myself to the ground, I throw a pity-party and think, "Why even try?" The convicting thing in all of this, is that it is not living the way God designed for me to live! And it is not putting my security, my hope, and my trust in the one I claim to be my source of joy.  

It is living as if I'm an orphan (and thus feeling

like I have to prove my worth), when in reality I am a daughter of the King (and can enjoy His riches for free)! 

So, all that to say, [unfortunately] I'm just as broken and messed up as everyone else. And I'm in just as much in need of restoration with God as the community of Bundibugyo. And I need to hear the Gospel every single day, just as much as my neighbors need to hear it.


As I've been realizing this, God has revealed to me that His fruit might look very different than what I anticipate (I know, surprising, right?). If He cares so much for the wayward sheep that He would leave the flock to find it, He cares as much for me as He does the masses that occupy the Albertine Rift.  

If there is no other tangible fruit from our living and raising our girls in Bundibugyo, Uganda, the promise of  

fruit in our hearts is there. 

It is JOY to walk by faith in obedience to Christ. It's not my joy, but it's His, given as a precious and undeserved gift to me.

And if it takes a pressure cooker to produce the aroma of Christ in our lives, so be it. 

Because sometimes to know Jesus while living in the valley, is just as beautiful as seeing His majesty from the mountaintop.