Isaiah 42:10
Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them.
Aunty Betty is going to Ghana. Ghana! Oh goodness gracious, before she sent her farewell note I did not even know which part of Africa, Ghana belonged to. I immediately searched online to find out more about Ghana and became a bit wiser because I now know where it is - bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. (Btw, I do know of the names of these African countries thanks to watching a British fact-trivial TV program)
I'm really stunned by the sudden trip to Ghana because I only knew her as a missionary who goes to China and as of the last few years, based in Muar, Malaysia. She gets by with the marginal support provided by the church and has been dedicated in her calling as a Missionary.
Aunty Betty is also someone whom I've always had in the church as I grew up. I cannot recall much, since she never taught me, just the fact that she eventually went to bible school, served in the church and became Rev Betty Mow, but I continued to call her Aunty Betty. Also helps that in my terror days of childhood, she had a surname, "mow", which sounds hokkien for the act of punching. So she too was the constant brunt of my teasing.
In the same line, my secondary school friend is leaving Singapore to move to Thailand for a one year missionary work with his wife. He's smarter than I am, has an excellent character and temperament and had such a great future. But after a few years of a cushy well-paying auditor job, he heeded the call to go to Boys Brigade, Thailand to revitalise the ministry because its christian fundamentals were being diluted. It was not long before he entered into bible school and after graduating with a Masters of Divinity, he's served for a year in his church. Now, instead of a comfortable job serving his church, he has decided to go where the needs are greatest and where God wants him. So, he now has to rely on love offering from friends and church while he moves out of Singapore to serve the Lord. Whereas, here I am, earning income in the comfort of home.
We all know the end times is coming, we also know of the great commission to go to the ends of the earth to share the word of God. Yet, it's also just another statement because how many are regularly going to the remote part of the world to evangelise? Well, now I have someone whom I know and that makes me shudder at the reality that a single, post-50's lady is going to a part of Africa to evangelise and bless people she doesn't know because God said so.
What about you and I living comfortably at home? Are we doing enough back home that warrants our presence here while many others in the remotest part of the world have not had the chance to hear about God.
May we be of greater use to God.
blessings,
M.
"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Matthew 8:20)
Aunty Betty is also someone whom I've always had in the church as I grew up. I cannot recall much, since she never taught me, just the fact that she eventually went to bible school, served in the church and became Rev Betty Mow, but I continued to call her Aunty Betty. Also helps that in my terror days of childhood, she had a surname, "mow", which sounds hokkien for the act of punching. So she too was the constant brunt of my teasing.
In the same line, my secondary school friend is leaving Singapore to move to Thailand for a one year missionary work with his wife. He's smarter than I am, has an excellent character and temperament and had such a great future. But after a few years of a cushy well-paying auditor job, he heeded the call to go to Boys Brigade, Thailand to revitalise the ministry because its christian fundamentals were being diluted. It was not long before he entered into bible school and after graduating with a Masters of Divinity, he's served for a year in his church. Now, instead of a comfortable job serving his church, he has decided to go where the needs are greatest and where God wants him. So, he now has to rely on love offering from friends and church while he moves out of Singapore to serve the Lord. Whereas, here I am, earning income in the comfort of home.
We all know the end times is coming, we also know of the great commission to go to the ends of the earth to share the word of God. Yet, it's also just another statement because how many are regularly going to the remote part of the world to evangelise? Well, now I have someone whom I know and that makes me shudder at the reality that a single, post-50's lady is going to a part of Africa to evangelise and bless people she doesn't know because God said so.
What about you and I living comfortably at home? Are we doing enough back home that warrants our presence here while many others in the remotest part of the world have not had the chance to hear about God.
May we be of greater use to God.
blessings,
M.
"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Matthew 8:20)
