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Rekindled Vision: In His Strength, On His Time

Rekindled Vision: In His Strength, On His Time

We were at our wits’ end. We were about ready to throw in the towel, folks. Raising financial support is HARD! We were moving at a snail’s pace, and the month of May did not go as planned. Despite our efforts, we did not make much headway in those 31 days. We were starting to feel down.

And, as we all know, this is when Satan likes to creep in; and he did. He attacked us hard. We began looking at the progress we had made since we left the field in August 2016. We had only raised about 57 percent of our monthly support, and the devil used this number to make us feel more discouraged.

After all the traveling, speaking, and time invested, we had little to show for it. Or so we thought. As the doubt began to creep in, we thought: can we really do this? Previous conversations with people we had met along the way were recalled. Many had asked, “Why do you do this?” or commented, “I could never do what you do.” We began to think maybe they were right. Maybe this just isn’t us. Maybe this isn’t the right path for us anymore. Maybe....

Friends, have you caught the pattern in this thinking? We this, we that, our efforts, us, we, mine.... Where was God? Well, right there of course! However, we were too focused on us, our worries, and our doubts—things the enemy had carefully planted inside us.

We had a real, heart-to-heart conversation with a WGM vice president and our fundraising coach. They encouraged us; built us up; gave us new, fresh ideas to try; and challenged our way of thinking as well as our methods. We left the meeting encouraged yet overwhelmed. There was much to be done. We would have to go after this at a full sprint. We were going to have to push HARD. Still we wondered, can it be done?

It was then that we asked ourselves a fundamental question: if fundraising were not an issue, would we return to the field? Did we truly believe in the work we were doing and the calling God had placed on our hearts?

YES!

We began discussing our passion and vision for this ministry. We revisited our callings and how God was preparing us—even at early ages—for our roles as Summer Bible Camp directors at Southwest Indian Ministries Center in Arizona.

Do you see the change in mindset? What God had done and what God was doing were now our focus, not doubt or lack of funding. God began revealing to us steps we could take and people we could go to for help in the process. We felt a weight lifted off our shoulders. We knew things were in God’s hands, not our own; and we knew that He provides in His timing, not ours. In the week following this shift in thinking, God helped us raise almost $400 in new monthly support!

We may never fully know or see firsthand how God worked in that seemingly unproductive month of May or what He did in the hearts of those we have met since August 2016. Maybe someone we spoke to dedicated their life to missions. Maybe someone surrendered their life to the Lord. Maybe seeds were planted for the kingdom that we will not fully comprehend until we all get to heaven. But two things remain certain—God’s Word never returns void, and we don’t believe His callings on our lives return void either.

The Lord gave Lindsay a clear confirmation of our calling in June. It came as she was sorting through camp pictures. We were helping with VBS at Jon’s home church at the time, and they were raising money through their offerings to donate to our ministry. They always have a fun way of measuring how much money has been raised each day. We decided to show them a picture of a camper each day for every $25 dollars they raised. Lindsay’s task was to find pictures to show what our camps and campers are like.

She was completely blown away the moment she started this task. As she looked through the hundreds of camp photos on Facebook, God pulled at her heartstrings.

“I CANNOT leave these children!” Lindsay thought. “Everyone in their lives has left them. Their mothers or fathers might be gone. Their other family members and friends might be gone. Life is a revolving door for most of our campers. Many of them do not have any consistent people in their lives. We are not naive enough to think that we can always be there for these kids, but we can introduce them to Someone who is. We HAVE to continue sharing Jesus with these kids! I miss them so much. I miss hearing about what God is doing in their lives. I miss their smiles and giggles. I miss watching them kneel in surrender at the altar! We HAVE to go back!”

And so, it is with this rekindled vision of what God has done and what He’s continuing to do that we move forward—in His strength, on His time.

*Update: The Lord provided the funding needed, and Jon and Lindsay returned to their ministries on the American Indian Field in September.

Action Step

ACT: Are you down, discouraged, or in need of hope? Start at the beginning. What has God done? How has He shown His care and provision? How could He be working now? How will you move forward, joining Him in what He’s doing? He’s always been there, and He will always be there. Sometimes it just takes looking at things from a different perspective to get you on board with where He’s going next. Enjoy your journey with Him!

The Call (December 2017)

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