Ready, Set….. WAIT!
It's been a year (January 20) since we announced our call and plans to go to Paris, France as missionaries to help start a new church. Never having been missionaries before, it was all new. Then, a little more than a month later, the world changed. Reality fell upon us: to be a missionary - what a time to start!
I've always admired the courage and sacrifice of missionary families. Never more so now. GlobalGrace has been great to help us meet and hear of others who've spent years in different countries, with different people groups, all to further the gospel. And I hear different stories of missionaries now, who like us, are ready to go, or go back, and at this juncture are waiting. We're essentially missionaries on furlough before we go.
Our call to go has been exciting nonetheless. Still is. We love seeing God open doors, form relationships, provide opportunities. It's grown and humbled us. It keeps us on track and focused for when we will (will the key word here) go. This has all occurred over the past year, while still here, as we've been able to have more time with people and partners and with the team in Paris online.
It's funny - all you can do is laugh - at our original timing. Everything was set: schedule, departure, arrival dates, first-year plans, solid possibilities for a place to live. Then COVID hit. We were actually in Paris that world-altering week in mid-March. We're glad we got to be there then. Headed home, we still thought we'd be back soon. COVID might curtail us, throw a wrench in our plans, but we were confident. Knock us back a few months, we thought. July to September. Maybe November. Little did we know.
Now it's February, a year later. Still here, on the ground in Mississippi, waiting to go. It's been good and challenging. Not particularly in that order. Of course, sometimes I say it's good because I feel - you have to say it. One can always use 'Christianese' cliche platitudes. Yet it is good to go deeper with partners, meet with potential partners, and grow in marriage and family. It's challenging because of anxiety - when will we get there - how long will we have to wait - how will it affect our partnerships - will people give up on us? That's only a few.
However, our call has deepened and grown. We are more committed than ever. Committed to learning French. Committed to the church adopting us. I've been able to spend more time with that church, meeting with pastors, online church gatherings, even preaching in services. They know us better because of this time. Not only are we committed to this specific call, but more committed to missionaries, their families, and global church planting. In essence, this time has made me see the need even more for the global expansion of the Church and to support those furthering these ends. It's not easy. It's always been hard, pandemic or not. Yet it's all our call and we want to champion it - with GlobalGrace and other missionaries too.
When we arrive in Paris, this time will have served us well. We'll have gone through a lot. We'll have grown in persistence and dependence on God. It actually seems like good training for first-time missionaries. We're facing hardships many face. You feel like you're stuck in two Tom Hanks movies at the same time - The Terminal & Cast Away (both very good by the way). The luster of initial announcements, the excitement of partners signing up immediately, the interest of many, has waned and faded. At the very least it's changed to - are you really going? With all this? We're receiving now what others think of missionaries when they're abroad - what are they doing, how are they, any updates on what's going on?
To those questions and more, we do all we can to answer them, provide a constant flow of information, and be intentional about all we do. We're active with our newsletter and blog. We started a YouTube channel, hoping to put out decent content. We highlight the work in Paris so others will know about it. And we share about our missionary life during COVID restrictions - from homeschool to activities to dinners with partners. Our schedule is full. We have been blessed to engage in ministry during this time - being part of discipleship groups each week, sharing at churches, giving counsel, tutoring, even doing work for local ministries. God calls us not to be idle and we are not idle people by nature. There's always something to do, some way to grow, somewhere to serve.
God's time is perfect. I mean that. He uses all times for His timing and purposes. This time is emboldening my faith. I mean, I thought I had the gift of faith. I've been humbled. It's made me admire missionaries much more. We have no idea of all they go through. It's made me know the most important mission is, still, the role of husband and father at home. In my own plans and itineraries, I need that reminder.
For all missionaries, our hope and prayer is that they keep going. Everyone I know still is. They are not deterred, even now, even with all this. I consider the words in Esther - "who knows you have not been called for such a time as this?" To show others this commitment, resilience, belief in God's greater plans, and His call to go where He calls. This is what we're trying to emulate, amidst the uncertainty and hardships these times have thrown upon us.
We are ready to go. When the doors open (EU & French government visa restrictions) we will go as soon as possible. Until then we wait. God is in the waiting. And we will do all we can with the resources He's given to use the waiting to His end - for personal growth, partner relationships, churches in Paris, and other missionaries. As we journey together.
John Hugh and Linda T are new missionaries with GlobalGrace.