The phone connection sounded a bit like Oliver, one of my closest Ugandan friends, was crushing newspapers on the other end. I held the phone an inch from my ear.
But I didn’t miss what made my hand fly to my chest: “Aisha…she passed. It was just too late. Things were already too bad.”
Near the end of my second short-term missions trip, I–a lowly teenager–was surprised to find that conflict with other global workers was a serious difficulty for those I was staying with.
Now, as the spouse of someone aiding conflict resolution in the field, this surprises me not one iota.
My family and I served six years in Guatemala when I became aware nearly all the songs sung in churches were translations of hymns and worship songs written in the U.S. or elsewhere.
Guatemalans are creative and musical. I’m a composer. So I thought I’d help them write original music for their worship services.
A Muslim woman walks through a corridor in a mosque complex in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Photo credit imb.org
Devout Muslims pray Sura One every day, reminding themselves of God’s sovereignty, the day of judgment, and the importance of finding their Straight Path.
In the name of God, the most gracious and merciful. Praise be to God, the Lord of the universe, the most gracious and merciful, Ruler of the day of judgment. You are the one we worship; you are he whose help we seek. Guide us on the Straight Path, the path of those whom you have blessed, With whom you are not angry, who have not gone astray.
Go. Serve. Love’s always pretty hyped to share marketplace-missions-related stories and thoughts from Marketplace & Development Enterprises, an organization providing business, vocational, missional, and personal services to fellow believers who want to make money and make disciples in unreached communities. So we’re pulling this important post from our archives today.
In light of the 4.13 billion unreached–and the need for the solution of an equal size–-MDE is looking for Christians who want to be in the workplace, either as employees or entrepreneurs, and who truly want to be intentional about developing authentic relationships.
Editor’s Note: This piece originally appeared on Rebecca Hopkins’ blog, Borneo Wife, when she and her husband served in Indonesia. Her pieces have appeared in Christianity Today and A Life Overseas. She currently blogs from her new American home at rebeccahopkins.org.
I now measure my worst nights of sleep against nights flying with kids.
