Presence is Witness

“The most suitable form of witness lies in simply being a specific kind of people while living among other people.”

So a new little fun update about me is that I just started a course called Perspectives Online which is a 4 month program focused on living a life of purpose and learning about what God’s purpose and vision for missions is. The quote I wrote above is from the second week of teachings and after I read it I seriously could not stop thinking about it. You may be thinking well duh, of course, it makes sense that presence is witness, and yeah, of course, I know that but oftentimes I forget that that is a huge part of what it looks like to be a missionary.

Ever since I felt like the Lord called me to long-term missions I have been solely focused on the “where” and “what” of what that lifestyle entails, rather than on the “how.” Of course, my work in Thailand taking care of the orphans as the Lord clearly has asked us to do throughout the bible is important work and not to be set aside as invaluable. That being said, I think a lot of times I miss the point that missions can also be simply loving Jesus in a crowd of people who don’t, instead of being overly focused searching for whatever is deemed “the Lord’s work.”

This past year of being “stuck” in the states has been mostly exhausting and frustrating, to put it honestly. I was constantly feeling like I wasn’t doing enough to glorify the Lord because I wasn’t in Thailand taking care of my babies, so then when I read that quote I literally felt like a weight was lifted off my back. I knew the Lord was confirming to me at that moment that what I had been doing throughout the past year really was enough and really was glorifying to Him. I was living, to the best of my ability with many faults of course, to look like Jesus in all I did and that just to live like Him surrounded by people who didn’t know Him WAS and IS real missions. It is just as much missions witnessing to those around me just by loving Him the best way I know how as it is flying across the world to work in an orphanage and take care of His children.

What a sweet God we have that affirms us and encourages us in this work that he didn’t even have to let us in on in the first place. Being a missionary is the biggest privilege I think any of us get to be a part of and I couldn't feel more excited or blessed to get to know more of how to do it the way the Lord intended these next few months and for the rest of my life.