Elizabeth Elliot has written many books which have been used of the Lord in countless ways to challenge my thinking.
Her book, These Strange Ashes I finished reading on my recent trip to Spain. Many of its pages now have additional markings where things she said spoke of current struggles within my own heart and life. The book tells of her first year on the mission field and reflects on the feeling that much of it came to naught shortly after she was moved from that field to a different place of ministry.
I want to share just a few excerpts from her writings in hopes that they will encourage others of my friends who know the inner struggles of which she speaks. Some of you will recognize how my heart’s cry for the people of Sabga closely follows Mrs. Elliot’s reflection on the children of San Miguel.
“There was something heartbreaking to me in hearing these recitations shouted so earnestly for so long by these poor children. They came from homes where there was no such thing as a book or a map or a piece of paper no anyplace to put such a thing if it were given them, and they would probably spend their lives tilling the small patch of jungle, but perhaps they would learn to read the Bible and that would make tilling the soil all the more worthwhile.” (page 50)
This passage reminds me so much of the school in which I taught and so many others like it in surrounding villages where much of the instruction is carried by rote memorization of facts.
“Faith’s most severe tests come not when we see nothing, but when we see a stunning array of evidence that seems to prove our faith vain.” (page 125)
How true I have found this statement to be as I seek the Lord’s timing and direction concerning my future direction for ministry. I trust though I am pressed inwardly nearly every day that in the Lord’s strength I will find rest.
I thank those of you who continue to uphold in prayer concerning my desire to serve the Lord on foreign soil. I have been asked a multitude of questions concerning that desire, and yet the answer is and I pray always will be the same. Yes, I love the African people. Yes, my heart yearns to see them freed from the bondage of sin. And still, I look to the Lord alone for my next step.
In His sovereign plan and will God moved me from the jungles of Equatorial Guinea to serve Him in the mountains of Sabga. He brought me back to Greenville, SC hoping to stay only as long as necessary.
My desires have not changed. Oh sure, the Lord has used certain experiences through the past 6 months to mature my thinking and cause further dependence on Him. But through it all I continue to hope He will again move me on in His perfect way and time.
For now I thank Him for the unexpected ministry He has given me in the lives of people with whom I work daily at Beck Academy, a public middle school here in Greenville. Thanks again for your prayers.
