Twice today as I answered the question “When
are you going back to Akobo”? When I answered, I was told the same thing in
different words. Once from a friend,
once from a pastor who is passing through Addis with a group on their way to
the countryside. I answered the
question, “In a couple of weeks. We are
waiting to see what the security situation is there”. One said “maybe your mission was to till the
ground and now he is making other plans for you”. The other said, “Maybe you are just the seed
planter and there to till the ground”… A third standing around says “My friend
worked in the middle east and they call those rock chunkers”.
I like that term “rock chunker”.
You have to get all the big rocks out of the way before you can till the
ground, according to my new friend. So,
once again, I sit in Addis, a year later, waiting to return to Akobo and the
work God has called us to there. My
prayer is that God is busy “chunking rocks” to pave the way for my return. If not, I am comfortable knowing that the
words of Jeremiah 29:11, “for I know the plans I have for you” are very true
and that God is preparing the way.
I read this quote tonight
I love this quote! I was thinking this afternoon, that unlike
last year, I am ok with waiting. I know
that God has plans and whatever they may be, I am happy with those plans. My prayer, my hopes and my dreams are to
return to Akobo. I now know that the
second part of that verse ““plans to prosper you and not to
harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” are the plans that make
wonderful horizons open out.
The pastor left later this
evening after another visit, he said, “remember sometimes your job is only to
till” and my friend later said, “and
maybe you are the one to plant the seeds”.
As I reflect on those words and the frequency I have been told them
today from two different people a world apart, I have to wonder. I wonder what God’s plans for my rock
chunking, ground tilling, seed planting future are.
What I don’t have to worry about
are that they will be plans that will prosper me, not harm me and give me hope
and a future. They are plans that will
allow time for me to learn and grow and experience new opportunities to learn
new things that will improve our ministry while we wait for God’s wonderful
horizons to open out before us.
Thanks be to God for each and
every one of you who join me on this journey.
May God be with you until we meet
again, my friends,
Sharon